"I'm disappointed but not really surprised," he said.

Mr Witham has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage.

"I will always oppose genderless marriage because nature has an obvious design and purpose."

Mr Witham said he was not surprised by the result, because the local no campaign he spearheaded was met with a lot of opposition.

“We encountered quite a bit of hostility and we realised that culture had changed quite a lot – more so than we realised,” he said.

Mr Witham said he was concerned a change to the law would “open the gate”.

He said he was concerned children being brought up in households with same-sex couples were missing out.

“You can’t legislate away a child’s longing for a mum and dad.”

Mr Witham said he believed same-sex marriage would now become legal, but he stands by his position.

“I think there will be a battle and I don’t know what the future holds, but obviously I believe marriage is between a man and a woman.”