How Ed got down on one knee to propose to Russell

By Mary Reid | Mon 29th July 2013 - 10:52 am

Last week Lib Dem Voice reported the engagement of Ed Fordham and Russell Eagling, long time Lib Dem activists, which was the first same sex engagement to be announced in the Births, Marriages and Deaths column of The Times. This fact had been mentioned by Julian Huppert during the final Commons debate on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, to an amusing put-down by the Speaker.

The Independent followed this up on Friday with a delightful full page article (with a beautiful photo) about the couple under the heading: Gay marriage first: How Ed got down on one knee to propose to Russell… and made a little piece of history.

“I knew when it was passed by the Lords that the final hurdle had been overcome and would become law,” Ed told The Independent.

“I had two rings in my pockets: my great-grandfather’s wedding ring which was rather small and my father’s 21st birthday present which was rather larger. I was just hoping one of them would fit.

“I was there thinking I’ve got to get this right. I’m not doing it for show. And then the choir that were there started singing an Erasure track and I thought ‘right’ – and went down on one knee and bingo I was there.”

Russell said he had no idea what was about to happen. “It was a complete surprise – if anything can be a complete surprise if you’ve been together for 15 years – but I honestly had no inkling it was coming.”

Once again, congratulations to Ed and Russell.

* Mary Reid is a contributing editor on Lib Dem Voice. She was a councillor in Kingston upon Thames, where she is still very active with the local party, and is the Hon President of Kingston Lib Dems.

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