A LEADING MP has come under-fire from Southend Pride for his history of voting against Gay rights in Parliament.

Recently, Southend West MP Sir David Amess was one of 117 MPs to vote against the Northern Ireland Equal Marriage amendment.

At present, gay marriage is not legal in Northern Ireland.

Southend Pride insisted Southend’s needs “representatives who stand for all people not just some people”.

The organisation also highlighted his voting past.

On February 5, 2013, Mr Amess voted against allowing same sex couples to marry, repeated the same vote on May 21, 2013, and on March 5, 2014, he voted against making same sex marriage available to armed forces personnel outside the UK.

On the armed forces vote, he was just one of 96 who voted against, while in the February 2013 vote he was one of 170 against, compared to 395 for.

In May 2013, 359 voted for, while Sir David Mr Amess was among 154 against.

Sir David Mr Amess stated that he did not think it was the UK government’s place to legislate on Northern Ireland, but failed to comment on his voting history, despite questions from the Echo.

In a press release from Southend Pride, Jess Hawkins, chairman of the transgender support group Transpire, said: “David Amess should be advocating for all of his constituents. This is clearly not the case. He has a record of voting against anything to do with the LGBT community.

“This saddens me. We need representatives who stand for all people, not just some people.”

Sir David Mr Amess said: “As I am sure you are aware, the matter of same sex marriage and surrounding legislation in Northern Ireland is a devolved issue and to be addressed by the Northern Irish Executive.

“I strongly believe that it is not the place of the UK Government to legislate on this matter and subsequently override the current devolution settlement in Northern Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement. If any of my constituents would like to discuss their concerns with me, they are more than welcome to attend one of my regular surgeries”.