How to vote

I believe that the gospel, the fundamental reality, the most important truth in the universe, the first commitment of every individual and society is "Jesus Christ is Lord". That should be the guiding principle of all, including politics and public life. It should be the first line of our consititution.

So, faced with a ballot paper for the European elections that gave me the choice of:

"The Christian Party: Proclaiming Christ's Lordship"

I felt I ought to vote for them.

I've no idea if they have any chance of seat.

Their website was pretty hard to find. (They say their main site is having problems due to excessive demand).

They seem a thoroughly good thing. Here's a bit of their blurb:

Why a Christian Party?

The time has come for Christians of all denominations to stand up for their beliefs and resist the tide of secularism destroying our country. The Christian Party exists to fulfill this vital role. Under the leadership of Revd George Hargreaves, this non-denominational Christian political party provides a united Christian witness across the nation to ensure that the message of the Bible is heard and heard where it matters. The voice of the once mighty church may have been reduced to a mere whisper, but the Christian Party will not be – it will speak out and not be silent. Whatever your denomination or churchmanship, the time has come to unite and stand together for the Christian faith and all it represents. The more who join the Christian Party the louder our Christian voice will become. If you agree that this is so, it may be that God is calling on you to join together with other like-minded Christians throughout the country who are equally concerned about the state of the church and nation. Please read the statement of faith below and if you agree with it,

join us now!

Statement of Faith

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Statement of Faith

1. We believe in one creator God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as stated in the historic creeds of the Christian church.

2. We acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord over all creation.

3. We believe the Holy Bible to be the inspired, infallible, written Word of God to whose precepts, given for the good of nations and individuals, all man’s law must submit.

4. We believe all government to be under the authority of God and that the purpose of government is the maintenance of freedom and justice solely in accordance with biblical principles.

5. Jesus Christ will come again to the earth, personally, visibly and bodily to consummate history and the eternal plan of God.

Statement of Purpose

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The primary purpose of the Christian Party is to proclaim the Lordship of Christ. The party also exists to empower those who confess “Jesus Christ as Lord!” to serve him in the political sphere.

Revd George Hargreves seems an interesting chap! He is anti-abortion, anti-practicing-homosexuality and anti-EU. His campaign to have the dragon removed from the Welsh flag seems a little barmy to me, though I have some sympathy with the idea. Much better to have a cross rather than Satan as your national symbol!

I voted Conservative in the local elections to stop the Lib Dems who I imagine want to tax everything in site and stand mainly for such things as pot-smoking, abortions and the promotion of homosexuality, but I could be wrong. I was a bit tempted by UKIP, though I don't imagine they could win and I'm not convinced by the prominence of their anti-imigration agenda. I respect those who feel they ought to spoil their paper by writing "JESUS IS LORD" across it, but its a shame that most people will think you just filled in the form incompitently.

P.S. It seems dogs and toddlers are welcome in our local polling station. Remeber you don't need your polling card and you don't have to give the fellas your number afterwards. Turning up at a random church hall worked for me.