News Brief

Vote for Christian party slides in London election -12/6/04

The vote for the Christian Peopleís Alliance (CPA) declined in the London elections held on the 10th June, despite a vigorous and spirited campaign which saw the Christian Democrat party enjoy several advantages which they were denied in the poll four years ago. Voters came out in larger numbers than four years ago to cast their four votes; first and second preference votes for the mayoral candidate, a vote for a party list and a vote for a constituency candidate for the London assembly. This year the CPA were hoping to pick up a seat on the London assembly, for which they would have needed 5% of the vote. The Christian Democrats however failed to benefit from the increase in popularity of smaller parties and the increased voter turnout with a slide for their mayoral candidate into 8th place. After the last London election in 2000, the CPA claimed 100,000 votes for their mayoral candidate Ram Gidoomal, by adding together the first preference and second preference votes which are only used if no candidate receives more than half of 1st preference votes. In their election literature they claimed a share of the vote of just under 4%. This year however, despite a 14 month campaign, the vote for the CPAís mayoral candidate decreased to 41,696 votes, or 2.2% of first preference votes. Last time Ram Gidoomal beat Green candidate Darren Johnson, as well as the British National Party and UKIP candidates on first preference votes. This year however, the CPAís candidate finished below Green candidate Darren Johnson, the UKIP candidate, and a candidate from the new Respect party. The CPA was also beaten by the British National Party, which churches in the North of England had actively campaigned against and which Ram Gidoomal said would be defeated by prayer, which he called a ìweapon of mass deliveranceî. Statements by mayoral candidate Ken Livingstone and Simon Hughes MP during the campaign saying they would like to see Ram Gidoomal elected to the London Assembly failed to give the CPA the votes they required to get a seat. The partyís overall vote for the London Assembly which was their main focus, decreased, as did their share of the vote from 3.3% to under 3%. This placed them again in 8th position, with just over half the number of votes that the British National Party achieved. The decline in support for the CPA came despite the added visibility that the party enjoyed of contesting the first-past-the-post constituency seats, which it did not undertake in the last London poll. This however proved to be their worst result in London, with their vote dipping to 1.5% in two constituencies. Overall they gained just 2.4% of the votes cast and finished last. The worst news of the June 10th elections for the party, was however reserved for the European result. The CPA contested one European constituency outside London - the South East region. There it polled just 0.5% of the vote, coming in 11th behind the Peace Party, the English Democrats and the Senior Citizens party. The result will be a great disappointment for the CPA who this time enjoyed several advantages over their shorter election campaign four years ago. These included a party election broadcast shown on prime time BBC and ITV, and substantial financial backing. They also received favourable coverage from the Guardian newspaper on election day, from an interview in the paper with Ram Gidoomal. During the campaign the party wrote to 45,000 Christians in London from across the churches making available 5,000 DVD copies of the CPA election broadcast featuring Oasis founder Steve Chalke and Elaine Storkey, for showing to church groups. Holy Trinity Brompton, base for the Alpha course, also gave a platform to Ram Gidoomal in front of its 3000 members. The CPA campaign which had the backing of European Christian Democratic parties was at times controversial. The party claimed that recommendations in a report published by London Church Leaders and the Evangelical Alliance (EA) into the Greater London Authority elections on June 10th could only be implemented by the capital's faith communities voting for the Christian Peopleís Alliance. This was something church leaders denied. As yet however it is unclear why the CPA did so badly. Several factors may have played a part including the Christian Democrat support for the European Union in an election which saw a great deal of anti-European feeling. The party may also have suffered from a higher turnout, which saw 5% more people vote in the London election than four years ago. The CPA has won one local council seat since its formation five years ago.