UK General Election 2015
You may have noticed that the United Kingdom is due to have a General Election on 7th May 2015. The political parties are already preparing, but how can we, as Christians, prepare to use our vote wisely?
The Kirby Laing Institute for Christian Ethics (KLICE) is publishing material to help us think through the political parties, their manifestos and their claims. Jonathan Chaplin, Director of KLICE, has written a brief article Beyond Pantomime Politics: KLICE pauses for thought before May 2015 to introduce some of the issues and explain what resources will be (some already are) available.
Briefly, you will find eight Ethics in Brief articles giving theological reflection on most of the main British political parties, as well as various KLICE Comment pieces addressing specific topics relating to the Election.
These articles and other resources can all be accessed from the
Of course, these articles will not be saying how we should vote. But they will help us to think through some of the issues before we do.
Quick links to some of the KLICE resources:
'Old, New, Borrowed and Blue – Christian Socialism and the Labour Tradition' by Paul Bickley. (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 8)
'‘Who is my neighbour?’ – the Church of England finds a new political voice' by Jonathan Chaplin. Comments on, and links to, the Church of England House of Bishops' Pastoral Letter on the 2015 Election.
'Christians for Ukip? A Plausible Ethical Perspective' by Adrian Hilton (April 2015 KLICE Election Comment)
'Blue Labour + Red Tory = Christian Democracy?' by Nick Townsend (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 7)
'A Greener Faith: Christianity and the Green Party' by Tim Cooper and Colin Bell (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 6)
'Plaid Cymru, Welsh nationalism and Christianity – a historical perspective' by Rhys Llwyd (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 5)
'The Scottish National Party in Theological Perspective' by Doug Gay (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 4)
'Christianity and conservatism: trust, civil society, enterprise and internationalism' by Joshua Hordern (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 3)
'We Are All Liberals Now: Freedom and Liberalism in the Liberal Democrat Party and Beyond' by Stephen Backhouse (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 2)
'The State of the Parties' by Paul Bickley (Ethics in Brief 2015 Election Series No. 1)
'Black Church Political Manifesto - a New Form of Christian Activism?' by David Muir (Election Comment, January 2015)
Other resources:
More general relevant resources can be found with the Politics Tag on bethinking.org.
An older article, although much of the material is still relevant for the 2015 Election: 'How Should Christians Vote in 2010?' by Jonathan Chaplin
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