The Christian Party (also the Scottish Christian Party and Welsh Christian Party ()) is a minor political party in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

History

The party originated as Operation Christian Vote, founded by George Hargreaves, a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

minister and former songwriter, in May 2004. It was based in Stornoway,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It contested the 2004 European Elections in the Scotland constituency, gaining 1.8% of the popular vote. Hargreaves was a candidate for Operation Christian Vote in the Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election in 2004 where he received 90 votes, last place in a field of seven candidates, and lost his deposit. In the 2005 general election, Hargreaves stood in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, where he was placed fourth, ahead of the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, and retained his deposit with 1,048 votes or 7.6%. The party was involved in protests, such as at

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. The party became known as the Christian Party.

Registration as a party

The party was registered by the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

on 29 April 2004, with the name "Christian Party 'Proclaiming Christ's Lordship!. In June 2012, legal action was taken against the Christian Party treasurer by the

for £2,750 for failure to supply accounts for two years as well as for failure to pay previous fines. The party de-registered the following month. Hargreaves was given a further 6 months to supply accounts, but failed to do so and was consequently fined a further £3,000 on top of a previous fine of £1,125 for failing to meet the deadline for provision of accounts. As a result, the party was de-registered in July 2012 and after the regulatory 6 months had elapsed, re-registered under a new party RPP under the leadership of Jeff Green. Sue Green is the party treasurer and Dr Donald Boyd is the nominating officer and leader of the Scottish Christian Party. The leader of the Welsh Christian Party and overall leader is Green.

Elections

Candidates from the party stood in the

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

and

Ealing Southall Ealing, Southall (also Ealing Southall) is a constituency created in 1974 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2007 by Virendra Sharma of the Labour Party. Constituency profile The constituency has relatively go ...

by-elections in 2007. The party received 26,575 votes (0.7%) in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election and 8,693 votes (0.9%) in the

2007 Welsh Assembly Election The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, as well as the Scottis ...

; it did not come close to winning any seats. Hargreaves stood for the party at the

2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election The 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election was a by-election held in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for constituency of Haltemprice and Howden. The by-election was triggered by the surprise and con ...

, and received 76 votes or 0.3% of the total votes cast. The party competed in the 2009 European elections. Its campaign was mainly focussed in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...

had put up advertisements on London buses saying " there's probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy your life". The party then produced similar adverts saying "there definitely is a God, so join the Christian Party and enjoy your life." The advert received over 1,000 complaints. On election day, the party retained one deposit in the

London region London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

through gaining 51,336 votes (2.9%). In the 2010 general election, the party stood 71 candidates, gaining 18,623 votes. The newly re-registered Christian Party contested the Eastleigh by-election in February 2013 with its candidate Kevin Milburn, a retired former prison officer and health care worker who stood against

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. He received 163 votes (0.4%). The Christian Party fielded nine candidates in the 2015 general election who between them polled 3,205 votes. Only John Cormack in Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles) saved his deposit with 6.6%; the other eight each received less than 1% of the votes cast. In the Scottish Parliament constituency covering the Western Isles John Cormack received 8.8% of the vote at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, coming fourth ahead of the Liberal Democrats. In the 2017 general election, the party fielded two candidates in Scotland. In the 2019 general election the Christian Party ran an alliance with the

Christian Peoples Alliance The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) is a Christian rightist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was founded in its present form in 1999, having grown out of a cross-party advocacy group called the Movement for Christian Democracy. ...

Policies

The party's mission statement is "Christians working together to bring Christian concern, goodwill and action into the community, education, business and politics." The party's website includes a statement of its policies which include the following: Banking * Promote personal and corporate financial responsibility * Promote government creation of money to be managed by the Bank of England to avoid national indebtedness to commercial banks 'Law and order' manifesto * Change the role of the Social Services to support parental authority * Make contraception for minors illegal without parental approval * Re-instate ''

in loco parentis The term ''in loco parentis'', Latin for "in the place of a parent" refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the functions and responsibilities of a parent. Originally derived from English common law, ...

'' as a fundamental principle of school teaching Health * Make private health insurance a visa requirement for migrants * Oblige private medical insurers to inform the Home Office when a private medical insurance policy linked to a visa is allowed to lapse or expires * Review and reduce Health and Safety legislation Social security * Reform the benefit system to remove the risk associated with leaving the welfare system and entering work. This would be accomplished by suspending benefit claims for a period of 9 months rather than closing them when an unemployed person gains employment. Within the 9-month period an unemployed person will be able to audit three jobs before their claim is liable to closure. Immigration * Negotiated agreement with the European Union to apply the immigration points system to migrants from the European Union, or in the event of non-agreement the declaration of a unilateral change in immigration policy * Make private health insurance a visa requirement for immigrants * Initiate a "No (private sector) Home – No Visa" policy Environment * Challenge the increasing levels of consumption * Have Sunday restored as a day of rest * Seek a new

global financial system The global financial system is the worldwide framework of legal agreements, institutions, and both formal and informal economic actors that together facilitate international flows of financial capital for purposes of investment and trade finan ...

which supports sustainable use of resources Government and democracy * Support significant cuts in the public sector workforce in order to reduce the size of government and the size of the government spending * Support a major re-employment and training programme to make it easier for public sector workers to transfer to the private sector * Call for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty within the first year of the new Parliament 'Respect for the human person' manifesto * Oppose abortion * Opposing the legal recognition of same-sex marriage * Support funding for hospices which provide terminal or palliative care for adults, children and infants Defence * Maintain a well resourced military with a nuclear deterrent * Support the doctrine of a

just war The just war theory ( la, bellum iustum) is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics which is studied by military leaders, theologians, ethicists and policy makers. The purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that a war i ...

, but not military adventurism * Withdraw British troops from Afghanistan In 2007, George Hargreaves campaigned to replace the

Flag of Wales The flag of Wales ( cy, Baner Cymru or , meaning 'the red dragon') consists of a red dragon passant on a green and white field. As with many heraldic charges, the exact representation of the dragon is not standardised and many renderings e ...

with the

Flag of Saint David The flag of Saint David ( cy, Baner Dewi Sant) is normally a yellow cross on a black field, but it has also appeared as a black cross on a yellow field or with an engrailed cross. It represents the 6th-century Saint David ( cy, Dewi Sant; � ...

, claiming that the red dragon on the Welsh flag was "nothing less than the sign of Satan".Molly Watson,
Christian group wants 'evil' Welsh flag changed
''Western Mail'', 3 March 2007

References

External links