Lib Dem Lynne Featherstone, who introduced same-sex marriage, loses her seat

The Liberal Democrat minister responsible for introducing same-sex marriage has been unseated as an MP.

Mrs Featherstone, who successfully made the case for equal marriage while an equalities minister, had fought a knife-edge battle with Labour's Catherine West for her Hornsey and Wood Green constituency.

The politician was one of the strongest pro-LGBT voices in the previous Parliament, convincing a cross party coalition of MPs to back same-sex marriage - and single-mindedly pushing the issue enough to get it on the statute books.

The Lib Dem was named Ally of the Year at the PinkNews Awards in 2014 , in recognition of her extraordinary achievements during her time in office.

After moving away from the equalities brief, the MP worked on a number of other issues - championing LGBT rights at the Department for International Development while waging a high profile campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM).

In 2010 she had held a 12-point majority over Labour - but despite local popularity her support collapsed following her party's coalition with the Conservatives.

She achieved 18,359 votes - down from 25,595 (46.5%) in 2010. Catherine West achieved 29,572- up from previous Labour candidate Karen Jennings' 18,720 votes (34%) in 2010.

The campaign has not been uncontroversial - with Mrs Featherstone threatening to complain to the police over "false" Labour leaflets she accuses of "smearing" her.
The leaflets claimed she was a Minister in the Home Office in 2013, when Theresa May attempted to tackle immigration with controversial ‘Go Home’ vans.

Mrs Featherstone was in fact a Minister in the Department for International Development at the time, and would not move to the Home Office until over a year later.