Almost 100 enter mixed-sex civil partnerships

Eligible opposite-sex couples have been able to form a civil partnership since December 2019 and Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show 44 couples in the area formed civil partnerships in 2020 – along with one couple on New Year’s Eve 2019

They were among over 7,700 couples nationally to have done so by the end of 2020.

Previously, only same-sex couples could enter into civil partnerships.

A spokeswoman from the Equal Civil Partnerships campaign group said the coronavirus pandemic meant 2020 was not the ideal first year for mixed-sex civil partnerships that was hoped for.

She added: "We are encouraged that over 15,000 people in England and Wales were able to form the legal and life relationship of their choice, ensuring security for themselves during a health crisis."

The figures also show the popularity of same-sex civil partnerships nationally has plummeted since the first legalised gay marriages took place in 2014.

In 2020, just 785 took place.

There was one same-sex civil partnership in Northumberland in 2020 – up from none in 2019.

An ONS spokesman said: "There were almost ten times as many partnerships between opposite-sex couples than same-sex couples in 2020.

“Same-sex civil partnerships in England reached a record low in 2020 and may have been driven by the pandemic restrictions, where registrations services were temporarily suspended.”

There were also 671 same-sex civil partnership dissolutions granted nationally in 2020 – with 54% of these to female couples.