RUTH KELLY, the new Cabinet minister with responsibility for equality, has been absent from every major vote on gay rights since Labour came to power.

Ms Kelly, a devout Roman Catholic and a member of the conservative sect Opus Dei, which is featured in The Da Vinci Code, was shifted in the reshuffle from Education to Communities and Local Government and made Minister for Women and Equality.

Gay rights campaigners reacted yesterday with disbelief at the move as supporters of Opus Dei, which was formed in 1928, have a duty to extend the “holiness” of their beliefs into their everyday work life. Opus Dei regards practising homosexuals as sinners.

Ms Kelly, 38, a mother of four children who became an MP in 1997, failed to support an equal age of consent, which was in Labour’s first manifesto, and missed votes on gay adoptions and civil partnerships, which came into law this year.

The new Equality Minister was also absent from the vote that overturned Section 28, a Thatcherite measure that banned local authorities from promoting homosexuality. However, she backed a move to allow schools to act on homophobic bullying. Whips for the main parties give MPs leave of absence from a vote when it is a conscience issue.

Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of Stonewall, the equality pressure group, said: “What Ruth Kelly does in her own home, and within her own church, are entirely a matter for her. Her political obligation is to deliver the Government’s commitment to equality. We are in no doubt she will be devoted to that duty.” Ms Kelly will be expected to speak up in the Cabinet for the Equality Bill, which will, among its proposals, make it illegal for hotels and bed-and-breakfasts to turn away same-sex couples.

Benjamin Cohen, the editor-in-chief of PinkNews.co.uk, Europe’s largest gay news organisation, attacked the appointment. “It is unclear what exactly Ms Kelly thinks about gay people, but the views of Opus Dei are unequivocal. It considers homosexuality to be a sin and a source of evil.”

In a statement Ms Kelly said: “People should be allowed to decide how they live their lives. I believe in a tolerant, diverse, multicultural society where everyone is protected from discrimination. As secretary of state with responsibility for equalities, I will fight discrimination, whether it be on the grounds of race, gender, disability or sexual orientation.”

In June 1998 she was absent from the Crime and Disorder Bill to reduce the age of consent. In February and March 1999 she was absent from votes on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, which sought to achieve the same goal. In October 2001 she missed the vote that established civil partnerships for gay couples. In March 2003 she missed the vote to repeal Section 28.

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, told PinkNews.co.uk: “Her appointment suggests the Government does not take lesbian and gay rights seriously. Tony Blair would never appoint someone to a race-equality post who had a lukewarm record of opposing racism.”

MISSING VOTES

In April 2000 she missed a vote to prevent the killing of a patient “by act or omission”, prompted by a judgment that allowed doctors to withdraw food

In May 2002 she voted for an amendment to the Adoption and Children Bill that would have allowed unmarried heterosexual couples to adopt children, and specifically excluded same-sex ones

In February 2004 she missed a vote to give transsexual people the rights of their new gender

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