Why evangelicals should keep trying to enter politics

Have we reached the point where it is unlikely that an evangelical Christian will ever again hold high office in the United Kingdom?

I have two friends hoping to be parliamentary candidates for the Labour Party in the next election. Both are clear-thinking Christians with a passion for the poor. Yet, however stellar their gifts, news media will certainly drill down on only two areas: sexuality and gender. If they are selected, they will be interrogated relentlessly on those two issues. I have, I confess, been tempted to say: ‘Don’t bother!’

I know this because six years ago it happened to Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats. A journalist spotted that he was an evangelical, did a bit of digging, and put it in print. From that moment, the only thing of interest to reporters was Farron’s views on gay sex. ‘To be a political leader’, he said in his resignation speech, ‘especially of a progressive, liberal party in 2017, and to live as a committed Christian, to hold faithfully to the Bible’s teaching, has felt impossible for me’.