general election
news
27 June 2024
Charities and churches push for hardship to be next PM's priority
Over 200 organisations, including churches and Christian groups, committed to ending poverty have called on Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer to put tackling hardship at the top of their agenda from day one if they are prime minister after the election.
The letter says:
"We are writing to you as a diverse network of organisations united by our shared desire to see an end to poverty and hardship in the UK.
"This general election is taking place against a backdrop of deep and growing hardship. Just last month (May), 7 million low-income households were forced to go without essentials like food, adequate clothing and basic toiletries, and over the past year, food banks in the Trussell Trust network distributed a record 3.1 million emergency food parcels. Most shockingly of all, almost 4 million people, including 1 million children, experienced destitution in 2022, more than double the rate from five years previously...
"...Together, we call on you to urgently set out a plan to help provide immediate relief to families struggling with hardship, as well as commit to developing a serious and ambitious strategy to build a future where everyone can afford the essentials, and no one needs a food bank to survive."
Among those signing are the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church, the Salvation Army and the United Reformed Church (URC).
You can read the letter and see the full list of signatories on the JRF website .
13 June 2024
JustMoney Movement General Election Briefing
JustMoney Movement held a conversation about how this election can lead to a fairer, greener economy on Thursday 13 June 2024 online via Zoom.
JustMoney Movement has produced a General Election Briefing to help you and your church to engage with the economic questions around this election from a biblical justice perspective.
In unpacking the election briefing and taking your questions, JustMoney Movement aimed to demystify some of the challenging subjects, think theologically about what a just economy means, and talk practically about how you can get involved in your constituency.
You can watch a recording of the Zoom briefing on YouTube .
4 June 2024
Taxes are a blessing; Christian leaders tell Sunak and Starmer
Over 20 prominent Christian leaders including former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, current Bishops of Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Stepney, Carlisle and Barking, as well as several charity leaders, academics and theologians have signed an open letter to the leaders of the Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour parties urging them to ‘seek the welfare of the nation’ through fairer taxation.
For full details, please see the JustMoney Movement website .
3 June 2024
Church leaders call for prayers during election season
The Most Rev Mark Strange, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, has joined with other church leaders in Scotland to offer regular prayer during this general election period.
A statement from the Church leaders encourages: “Christians in Scotland to engage actively, constructively, and charitably in the democratic process of the General Election called for 4th July 2024.”
The church leaders will offer prayer each week in the run up to polling day on 4 July.
For full details and the Church leaders' prayer please see the Scottish Episcopal Church website .
31 May 2024
Cardinal Nichols encourages participation in UK General Election
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has recorded a message encouraging Catholics, particularly young adults, to be “willing to get involved and vote” as the opportunity to vote in a general election is a “privilege”.
“You want to know what your candidate will think and say on your behalf when that candidate gets into Parliament,” says the Cardinal. “I would like to put forward a theme for us all to think about. How do we seek to construct a society in which families can flourish? That’s the bedrock – many positive things flow from that.”
Cardinal Nichols also signposts resources that offer guidance on seven key topics of interest to Catholics.
For more details please see the Catholic Church in England and Wales website .
23 May 2024
Methodist leaders issue election call to love, pray and vote
Statement from Revd Gill Newton and Deacon Kerry Scarlett, President and Vice-President of the Methodist Conference:
"Our hope is that this will be an election campaign where people will be able to discuss and disagree with kindness, where truth will be upheld, and where the needs of people who are vulnerable will be honoured. As Christians, over the weeks ahead we are called to participate actively, ask questions, listen well, seek justice and the common good, and surround the process in prayer.
"There will be all kinds of issues on the agenda during this campaign. But as we seek to follow Jesus’s commandment to love our neighbour, we particularly challenge all who aspire to form the next government to set out what they will do to tackle poverty in the UK."
For the full statement, please see the Methodist Church website .
22 May 2024
Church of England invitation to pray for the nation
The Bishops of the Church of England have issued a call to put prayer and participation at the heart of the General Election campaign as the UK prepares to go to the polls.
Archbishops Justin Welby and Stephen Cottrell have urged people to set aside time amid the heat of the coming campaign to reflect and pray for our nation and our world. They also issue a plea to everyone to put “good grace and a commitment to truth and integrity” at the heart of the campaign.
The Church of England is launching a campaign known as #PrayYourPart – to promote prayer and participation in the life of our nation and communities, both as voters and as citizens.
A series of daily thematic reflections written by bishops, drawn from the Bible and exploring major themes will be published shortly, covering the final three weeks up to polling day.
For more details, see the Church of England website.
22 May 2024
URC message for the election
The United Reformed Church (URC) is encouraging all voters to engage in the upcoming General Election and to use it as an opportunity to urge political leaders to end poverty in the UK.
The Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson, URC General Assembly Moderator 2023-2024, said: “I am calling for us to actively encourage our communities, staff and congregants to ensure they are registered to vote in the upcoming General Election.
“I make particular reference to those from demographics historically under-represented in the voting process, ie young people, ethnically-minoritised as well as economically disadvantaged communities, renters, recent movers and non-UK nationals who are eligible to vote.
“Our advocacy for them and our participation in elections are a testament to our commitment to shaping a society that is mindful of its responsibilities towards fair representation and justice for all.”
For more details see the URC website.
22 May 2024
Election statement from the Church in Wales
Archbishop Andrew John:
"As our country faces important choices about the future, I would urge everyone to make full use of our democratic freedoms and to take part in the debates and the decisions which are before us, and to exercise their right to vote. I would call on politicians, commentators and the public to engage with the process in a spirit of respect and civility and to recognise that, whatever our political views may be, we all share the same aim of pursuing the common good and creating a better society. And through the whole process, it is our prayer as Christians that the needs of the poorest and most marginalised in our society will always be remembered."
Please see the Church in Wales website .
8 April 2024
The Nation Needs You!
A campaign to encourage election candidates to back the Climate & Nature Bill has been launched by Zero Hour.
The Climate & Nature Bill is a poposal for a new UK law that addresses the full extent of the climate and nature crisis in line with the most up-to-date science. For details on the bill, see the Zero Hour website.
Zero Hour is supported by the Climate Coalition (which includes CAFOD, Christian Aid, Church of England Environment Programme and the Salvation Army), A Rocha UK, Green Christian, Operation Noah and Faith for Climate.
To contact your own election candidates to back the Climate & Nature Bill see action.zerohour.uk.
8 April 2024
A Year of Encounter
CAFOD and St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) have started a campaign to help the Catholic voice be heard in the next General Election, and to make sure politicians make tackling poverty a priority.
The two organisations are inviting parishes to reach out to their local candidates ahead of the next election, with the intention of "strengthening community participation as a local faith group, and practicing the culture of encounter that Pope Francis talks about".
For more details on A Year of Encounter, see the SVP website.
12 March 2024
Become a Voter Registration Champion
Citizens UK has launched a campaign to get 1 million ‘at risk’ voters ready to participate in this year’s general election. Six Church denominations, plus Churches Together in England (CTE), have become official Ambassadors to encourage churches to become Voter Registration Champions to get people to register to vote, educate about the need for Voter ID and encourage people to turn out to vote on the day.
Churches accredited as Ambassadors are the Baptist Union of Great Britain, Church of England, Church of Scotland, Methodist Church, Quakers in Britain and the United Reformed Church (URC).
Find out more and download an information pack from the Voter Registration Champions website .
12 March 2024
Joint Public Issues Team creates Constituency Action Network
A Constituency Action Network is being created by the Joint Public Issues Team (JPIT), with the goal of helping at least one local church congregation in every parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales to develop a meaningful relationship with their MP.
JPIT is currently running a pilot programme for a limited number of churches, and aims to launch the wider network during 2024
Please see the JPIT website for more details.
