Same-sex couples have formed 3,648 civil partnerships in England and Wales since it became legal to register gay partnerships in December 2005.

Male couples formed 2,510 civil partnerships and female couples formed 1,138 according to statistics released by the General Register Office.

Brighton and Hove was the Registration Authority where most civil partnerships were formed (126) followed by Westminster (121) and Kensington and Chelsea (105).

The Civil Partnership Act came into force on 5 December 2005 and enables same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship.

Couples who register a civil partnership have a new legal status, that of ‘civil partner’.

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