New generation of Christian Tories emerges
-10/05/05
A new generation of Christian Conservative MPs was welcomed yesterday as older Christian Tories began to urge reform and modernisation of their party ahead of an impending leadership election.
In Westminster Tory leader Michael Howard greeted two young Christian candidates who scored election wins against considerable odds.
Steven Crabb (31) won in Preseli Pembrokeshire, the constituency of his birth. The win was attributed to a year dedicated to hard campaigning in the constituency, and a strong personal vote.
In London, a co-founder of the Conservative Christian Fellowship (CCF) also pulled off an impressive victory in Michael Portilloís old seat of Enfield-Southgate. Although the seat was way down on the Tory hit list, David Burrowes managed perhaps the most remarkable Conservative victory of the election, defeating government minister Stephen Twigg.
The arrival in Westminster of the new MPs came as older ones suggested it was time for the party to change.
In a letter in today’s Times newspaper, Gary Streeter MP, former chair of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, urges radical reform of the way that his party operates.
“There should be no more braying at our opponents in the House of Commons like pinstriped pubescents from a bygone age” he writes.
“We must eschew cynicism and when we agree with our opponents we should say so.”
Gary Streeter has previously been amongst Christians at the heart of the party who have urged a more ‘compassionate conservatism’.
Other young Christian Tory candidates with a similar perspective also almost made it to Westminster, and may well do so at the next election.
A duo who work for Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) got their first taste of electoral action. However James Mawdsley (Hyndburn) made famous after spending a year in a Burmese prison cell, and Benedict Rogers (City of Durham) didnít make significant inroads into the seats they contested. In this they were not alone in an election that saw many candidates struggle to progress in ësafeí seats held by other parties.
Other Tories well known for their Christian faith consolidated their positions. Conservative MP Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) who won his seat in 2001 by just 776 votes extended his majority by another 7,500. However, his local campaign against illegal travellers, raises the spectre that many Tory Christians still have a “nasty” side to them, and may not buy into the “compassionate” agenda.
Another Tory candidate, Ed Matts, who described himself in election literature as a ìcommitted Christianî also became embroiled in controversy during the campaign after he doctored asylum photographs in his promotional literature. He however failed to win in Dorset South although he should have easily been elected on the national swing to the Conservatives.