Lib Dems: Christian influence on the party is ‘over’

The Liberal Democrats have said as a ‘statement of fact’ that the time when the party was ‘shaped by Christian beliefs’ is ‘over,’ as a row over the deselection of a Christian candidate continues.

The apparent admission of the difficulty of Christians standing for the party comes in the wake of the deselection of Christian journalist David Campanale as the party’s candidate for the Sutton and Cheam constituency. He says he was deselected because of his orthodox Christian beliefs – including on abortion and gay marriage.

In his legal claim against the party, Campanale states that his Christian beliefs are protected under the Equality Act. He claims that as soon as he was approved in 2017 as a prospective parliamentary candidate, he was subjected to complaints by party members because of his Christian beliefs; and ‘mocked and abused’ at a meeting with party members.