Election Thoughts

Very many clergy steer very clear of party politics and won’t say anything about it at all. That’s probably a reasonable strategy for the many but its never going to satisfy the few. Perhaps inevitably, I’m one of the few. I was a candidate at the last General Election, something that was known about and talked about when I was appointed to St Mary’s. Not for me the luxury of not causing ripples. My political allegiance is a matter of public record. I was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Stirling in 2005.

It feels a little strange not being involved as a candidate this time. It was an experience that I enjoyed immensely and learned a great deal from. People often ask me whether I’ve given up politics now. The answer remains the same as when I came to Glasgow – that I’m not engaged in it directly right now, but I would not rule out going back to it later.

I had a fabulous team working with me when I was a candidate. Amazing volunteers who worked and worked and worked. They taught me a lot about motivating people and a huge amount about how you can influence folk over a large area with a small number of people. Indeed, I learned that if you can agree on a common task with meaningful goals, a small number of people can do amazing things.

So very different to the church a lot of the time, where we find it very hard to define what the common task is.

I also found that people tend to treat one another better in politics than we do in the church. That’s a sobering thought and when I articulate it, people often want to disagree with me.

Anyway, its been an exciting election campaign. Much more so than I thought it would be. I’m saddened that it has taken the pseudo-presidential television debates to get to a point where people have been able to consider alternatives to the old two party dualism in greater numbers than before. However, I’m not going to pretend that I am displeased with the consequences. I was flagging up the fact that I thought the country needed a hung parliament in January. I’ve not changed my mind. Those trying to frighten us out of a hung parliament tell us to be afraid of governments constructed from back room deals. Every government is constructed from back room deals. I happen to think that we would have better government if the back room included people from more than one party.

So, my thoughts are with all candidates today. Given what I know you go through, turning up to vote is the least we can do for you.