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’.
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