In what might be seen by many as a surprising move, Prime Minister David Cameron has appointed a woman who doesn’t appear to believe in equality, as Equalities Minister.

During the debate about equal marriage in 2013, Caroline Dinenage said that the state had ‘no right’ to redefine marriage, even though it is accepted that the church had no interest in marriage for the first thousand years that Christianity has existed.

Dinenage has been named as Parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice and the minister for equalities at the Department for Education. However, her predecessor, Nicky Morgan, also voted against equal marriage.

Dineage, the daughter of former TV presenter Fred Dineage, is reported by Pink News to have written that ‘marriage is in its nature a union of “one man and one woman”, and that ‘the institution of marriage is distinctive.’

‘These proposals were not included in any of the three main manifestoes nor did it feature in the Coalition’s Programme for Government. As I have mentioned, under current law same-sex couples can have a civil partnership but not a civil marriage and I believe that there is no legitimate reason to change this.’

‘Preventing same-sex couples from being allowed to “marry” takes nothing away from their relationship.’