Europe Minister plans to be first gay MP to 'wed' in the Commons

Commons goal: Chris Bryant MP hopes to hold his civil ceremony in Parliament
12 April 2012

A Government minister is planning to be the first MP to have a gay wedding in the House of Commons.

Europe Minister Chris Bryant hopes to tie the knot in the historic Speaker's House after getting engaged to partner Jared Cranney.

"Jared and I are engaged and we hope to have a civil partnership - or a marriage is what it feels like - in March next year," said the MP, a trainee priest before he went into politics.

"We'd like to do it in Parliament if possible."

The Evening Standard revealed last month that reforming Speaker John Bercow wants to open up the doors of Parliament to civil partnerships, possibly in his official residence.

If legal obstacles can be overcome, the new Speaker wants to show Parliament as modern and inclusive by providing gay MPs with an equivalent to the traditional right of MPs and peers to marry in the ancient crypt chapel under the Commons.

Speaker's House is one of Britain's grandest apartments, adorned with Utrecht curtains and chandelabra. A spokesman for the Speaker confirmed: "The Speaker is very keen on the idea of holding civil partnership ceremonies at Westminster and he would be very happy for Speaker's House to be used.

"There are, however, a number of legal and practical problems that we are looking into."

Speaker's House sits under Big Ben overlooking the Thames. It was built in 1858 to the designs of architect Charles Barry and gothic revivalist AWG Pugin. Portraits of former Speakers adorn the walls, which are covered in carved oak and £300-a-roll wallpaper.

Upstairs is the state bedroom, containing a huge red bed on which the monarch was intended to sleep on the night before the Coronation.

Former Speaker Michael Martin was embroiled in a row when he oversaw £724,600 spent on refurbishments and £992,000 on improving security in the garden.

Gay weddings cannot take place in the crypt chapel because that would breach Church of England rules. Other venues within the Palace could include Westminster Hall or the official residences of the Speaker and Lord Chancellor.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in