Tory-voting Christians all too often try to make this specious argument, that a single party (theirs, of course) most accurately represents “Christian values”. Labour-voting Christians, in my experience, tend not to, or at least, they do it less often. Perhaps that’s because they look across at the American political system and are repulsed by the stranglehold that the Christian Right have over Republican policy and don’t want to see the same thing happen here.
This is the only part of his article I must take issue with. I've certainly come across Labour supporters who are religious who cannot fathom how a God fearing Christian could ever vote Conservative. And secondly, I know of no mainstream Conservative who would ever want the so-called Christian Right to have a stranglehold over the Conservative Party.
Although I am not religious I share many Christian values (at least, I hope I do), and so does the Conservative Party. So indeed do other political parties. There are plenty of Labour MPs, and a few LibDems who would share Cranmer's concern about abortion law reform. But these are matters of conscience - not matters of party politics. And long may they remain so. To that extent I am with Tom Harris on this, rather than His Grace.
God doesn't do party politics*, but if he did, I suspect that he would have voted for all three political parties over the last 100 years.
* Yes, I can see the deep irony of an Agnostic writing about God as if he exists...
