Parliament To Hold First Gay Wedding

The Houses of Parliament will next year take a major step into the modern world by hosting its first ever gay wedding. Under Pugin's fixtures and fittings, Europe minister Chris Bryant and his fiancé Jared Cranney will have a civil partnership ceremony, marking another victory for gay rights and acceptability: it was only three years ago that Ben Bradshaw became the first sitting MP to enter into a civil partnership. The story of Bryant and Cranney is a true London romance. The pair met while Bryant was out campaigning for Ken Livingstone's mayoral bid last year, and from the ashes of that failed campaign, a happy couple was born. Speaker John Bercow has been working behind-the-scenes to make it happen, and the ceremony is expected to take place in the state dining room within Speaker's House; the 14th-century chapel normally used for Parliamentary weddings remains off-limits to civil partnerships, like every other religious venue in the country.