The Faith Of Our Leaders: Conclusion
(from www.lifeandwork.org)
Adam McPherson wraps up his series on the faith influence on some of our most prominent Prime Ministers
And so we come to the end of this series exploring the faith of our former Prime Ministers. Churchill, Attlee, Thatcher and Blair, four of the most totemic national leaders of our time, each had their own complicated relationship with Christianity.
Churchill struggled to find a comfortable fit politically, swapping parties in a manner that would baffle today's electorate. He challenged orthodoxies but was able to harness the oratory power of the Christian message to promote his own agenda.
Attlee's beliefs may seem more complex than Churchill's, but he too believed profoundly in Christian ethics, even if he could have done without the 'mumbo jumbo'.
Thatcher distilled Christianity through her socio-economic ideologies. As a proponent of monetarism, freedom was the most exalted Christian value, not love.
Blair maintained that “Faith plays a far greater role in political leaders than you might think” and though he was reluctant to talk about his faith candidly as Prime Minister, he has discussed it extensively since.
Mark Vickers notes in his book God in Number 10 that 'one of the most striking changes over the century is the extent to which the Prime Ministers became more believing'. From Harold Macmillian in 1957 onward the majority of our most recent Prime Ministers 'took their Christian faith seriously'.
Gordon Brown described himself as a member of the Church of Scotland and referred to his 'strong religious beliefs' in his autobiography. David Cameron, whose faith has been questioned at times, told an interview with Church Times that he was a 'wishy-washy Christian'. His successor, Theresa May, was, like Brown, brought up in a Church household. Where Brown was the 'son of the Manse', May was the daughter of the Vicarage. May was happy to say openly that Christianity 'is part of me. It is part of who I am and, therefore, how I approach things', exemplified in her desire to eliminate the 'burning injustices' of society.
People often remark on Boris Johnson's lack of faith but he, like Attlee and Churchill, believed Christianity was a 'superb ethical system'. Rishi Sunak, the current Prime Minister, was confident enough in his Hindu faith to light a candle for Diwali outside Number 11 when he was Chancellor. Humza Yousef, the new First Minister of Scotland, spoke about his Muslim faith when his victory was announced. Vickers believes it would have been 'barely conceivable' at the end of the twentieth century that a person of a non-Christian faith would reach high office.
So where does that leave our future leaders? Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, is an atheist. Interestingly, Johnson attacked Starmer on this in an interview with Robert Peston in 2021, citing Psalm 14:1: The foolish man has said in his heart there is no God. Perhaps there is still a place for debate about faith in the modern political discourse even as the country becomes increasingly secularised.
The Faith of our Leaders: exploring the beliefs of the UK's most famous political figures
Subscribe to Life and Work in digital or print here