The Christian Party (also known as the Scottish Christian Party and Welsh Christian Party ()) is a minor

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

political party in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

History

The party originated as Operation Christian Vote, founded by

George Hargreaves George Hargreaves (born November 12, 1952) is a landscape architect. Under his design direction, the work of his firm has received numerous national awards and it has been published and exhibited nationally and internationally. He was an artist in ...

, a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

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

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. 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 The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islands form part ...

, where he was placed fourth, ahead of the

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

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

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. 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 Electoral Commission 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 six 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 six 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 Jeff 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 4,986 in the 2021 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. Etymology The name ''Sedgefield'' is of Old English origin. It ...

and

Ealing Southall Ealing, Southall (also Ealing Southall) is a constituency created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Deirdre Costigan of the Labour Party. Constituency profile The constituency has relatively goo ...

by-elections in 2007. The party received 26,575 votes (0.7%) in the

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. 2007 Scottish local elections, ...

and 8,693 votes (0.9%) in the 2007 Welsh Assembly Election; it did not win any seats. Hargreaves stood for the party at the 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election, and received 76 votes or 0.3% of the total votes cast. The party competed in the 2009 European elections. Its campaign was mainly focused in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. 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 non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...

had put up advertisements on

London buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus s ...

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 Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

, 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 legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. He received 163 votes (0.4%). The 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. At the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

, in the Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency Cormack received 8.8% of the vote, 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 party ran an alliance with the

Christian Peoples Alliance The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) is a minor Christian right 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 Democrac ...

. The party fielded two candidates in the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

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 * 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'', Contemporary Latin, 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 ...

'' 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 agent (economics), economic action that together facilitate international flows of financial capital for purposes of investme ...

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" * 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 () is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. It has bee ...

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

Flag of Wales The flag of Wales ( or , meaning 'Welsh Dragon, the red dragon') consists of a red European dragon, dragon attitude (heraldry)#Passant, passant on a green and white field (heraldry), field. As with many Charge (heraldry), heraldic charges, the ...

with the

Flag of Saint David The flag of Saint David () represents the 6th-century Saint David (; – ), a Welsh bishop of Menevia and the patron saint of Wales. It is normally a yellow cross on a black field, but it has also appeared as a black cross on a yellow field o ...

, claiming that the red dragon on the Welsh flag was "nothing less than the sign of

Satan Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...

".Molly Watson,
Christian group wants 'evil' Welsh flag changed
''Western Mail'', 3 March 2007

References

External links