David Cameron wins award for legislation on gay marriage

An LGBT rights award has been given to former prime minister David Cameron in honour of his commitment to marriage equality.

Mr Cameron, who cited legalising gay marriage as one of his major achievements in office after the Brexit vote forced his resignation in June, was named ally of the year at the PinkNews awards.

When the award was presented to him at his London office, Mr Cameron said he was proud of his role in the landmark reform which sparked much opposition in Tory ranks.

"I think it was five years ago this month that I said to a Conservative Party conference that I wanted us to champion equal marriage that I wanted us to do that, I wanted marriage to be there for men to marry men and women to marry women, as well as marriage as we've known it. And I'm really proud that we carried it through.

"Because when you're prime minister there are lots of things that you want to change some go right, some go wrong, some are instantly forgotten. But I know with this, with equal marriage it is something that has already made a huge difference to people's lives and will go on doing so in the future.

"So for the small role I played in help pushing it through and making it happen, I'm very proud it's great to accept this award and I know it's going to bring a lot of people a lot of pleasure for years to come," he said.

Previous winners of the PinkNews Ally award include Nick Clegg, Alex Salmond, and Ed Miliband.