Our Redeemer doesn't wear a rosette

Over the summer, British politics usually takes a break. Parliament is in recess, MPs are working in their constituencies, and hopefully taking a holiday to recharge.

This is a good time to reflect on the past year. Looking at the state of the world and the UK, it is frankly a challenge to remain optimistic.

'Shattered Britain'

Last month the research organisation More in Common published a rather depressing report called Shattered Britain. It found that the British public is exhausted by what feels like an endless litany of recent crises, alongside increasing world threats, crumbling public services and “leaders who don’t seem to understand what ordinary people want.”

Seventy per cent feel that the country is on the wrong track and a whopping 87% have little or no trust in politicians. There is deep disappointment in Labour’s first year of government, and the Conservatives are still extremely unpopular.

The two party system seems to have shattered, with the Lib Dems and especially Reform UK benefiting. Indeed a quarter of those who voted Conservative in the general election only a year ago said they would vote Reform if there was an election today.

There is similar rage across the spectrum and indeed across the pond. In the Democrat primaries for New York Mayor, left-wing outsider Zohran Mamdani won against the establishment candidates. His embracing of popular issues and his ease at communicating on TikTok meant he gained momentum out of obscurity.

One commentator in The Times concluded: "If Mamdani can win, anyone can…He needed anger, fluency in the digital platforms where that anger lives and a generation ready to listen – then vote."

But what if the populist alternatives actually win power at the next election, then fail to enact the transformation they promise? More in Common’s research warns that people believe the political system no longer functions properly, and they’re therefore increasingly willing to “roll the dice” on “something new entirely”.

What could this mean for UK politics? Is a political earthquake on the way?

Refusing to join the 'doom and despair' narrative

For non-believers who think this life is all we have, and a consumerist mindset that demands results, it’s hard not to be disillusioned. Social media offers either endless reels of despair or mindless distraction. And recent events have felt seismic, many with heart-breaking humanitarian impacts. The 2008 financial crash, Brexit, Covid, the Ukraine and Middle East wars – all have had structural and enduring consequences for our wider economy and our personal prosperity.

It's tempting to give in to nostalgia, but let’s not kid ourselves that there was ever a golden age for Britain.

I was intrigued when the new Reform mayor for Lincolnshire, Andrea Jenkyns, claimed that her election meant “we’re taking Britain back to its glorious past.” What did she mean? Britain’s empire? Wembley 1966? Mass cholera outbreaks? Sending children down coal mines?

I’m equally sniffy - by the way - about the assumption that human progress is inevitable and the present is always better than the past. "Chronological snobbery", as C.S. Lewis called it.

But the More in Common report isn’t entirely downbeat. It finds that the majority want to get Britain “back on track” and highlights key strengths in “our belief in one another, aversion to conflict for conflict’s sake and the power of the community.”

These are all strengths that Christians can work with. We should engage with our communities and strive for peace but we should not be satisfied by political ideologies or solutions.

We know politics won’t save Britain. No politician can offer ultimate meaning nor solve all Britain’s problems – no matter how charming or TikTok-savvy they appear. We look to God as the ultimate authority in our lives and over the whole earth. He promises one day to save us from the mess we have made and to redeem all creation. This promise should lift our eyes and broaden our perspective.

The apostle Paul says “I have learned to be content in all circumstances…” (Philippians 4v11). Let’s remember that Paul was in prison writing this, and refuse to join the narrative of doom and despair. We know this world needs redemption. But that redemption comes from only one place and One Person... and He's not wearing a rosette!

So let’s not be dragged down by negativity. Let’s continue to engage in our world and to tell the story of One who will deliver perfect justice, who, in the words of Revelation 21, promises that “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

I don’t know about you, but I can cope with the disappointments in politics and society knowing that this is how history will end. This gives us the freedom to keep working quietly for God’s kingdom, doing good wherever He has placed us, loving our neighbours and pointing them to that real, living, eternal hope we find in Christ.