the political concerns of evangelical christians in the uk greg smith william temple foundation, and...
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The political concerns of Evangelical Christians in
the UK Greg Smith
William Temple Foundation, and Evangelical Alliance Email [email protected]
&Mathew Guest
University of [email protected]
Jimmy Carter President of USA 1976-19801976 the ‘year of the evangelicals’
Ronald ReaganPresident of the USA 1980-1988
Values of the New Christian Right expressed most forcibly in cultural and economic, rather than theological, terms...
Jerry Falwell has Ronald Reagan's ear during a campaign stop in October 1980.
Jim Walllis (1948-)Sojourners
Tony Campolo (1935-)‘Red Letter Christian’
Rob Bell (1970-)Mars Hill Bible Church, MINooma DVDsReclaiming social justice to
Christianity and critiquing claims of New Christian Right for confusing Gospel message with values of consumer capitalism.
The Evangelical ‘Left’?
British Evangelical campaign groups that affirm values commensurate with traditionally right-wing causes?
1. How far are evangelicals within the UK engaged with politics?
2. How does this play out in terms of party political support?
3. What are the political issues for evangelicals and how do these fit with the traditional political spectrum (left-right), or do they reflect a more complex set of identities?
3 Key Questions
Our Surveys
Baseline survey 17,000 respondents 12,500 of them defined themselves as
Evangelical Christians (only these cases analysed here)
Follow up panel surveys – 3 waves 1150 – 1219 respondents Opportunity sample so cannot say if it is
representative
Do Evangelicals Vote?
In panel survey Easter 2011 91% said they were voting in the Referendum
Q10 Do you consider yourself to be an evangelical Christian? by Q14 Did you vote in the 2010 General
Election?
0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%80.00%90.00%
NotEvangelical
Unsure ifEvangelical
Evangelicals Totalrespondentsn= 16,184
UK electorate
In a study of data from the British Social Attitudes Survey, asking about the 2005 general election.
Siobhan McAndrew found those who were religious or “fuzzy faithful” were markedly more likely to vote than the unreligious.
That is, even partial engagement with religion, appears to be associated with a tendency to engage with the national political process,
although the same analysis suggests this may have more to do with religious upbringing than current levels of religious commitment
(McAndrew, 2010: 100-101).
Who do Evangelicals vote for General Election 2010?
UK ELECTORATE
% Votes by Party May 2010 UK General Election
Liberal Democrat 23%
Labour 29%
Conservative 36%
UKIP 3%
Evangelicals (GB only) expressing preference
29%
22% 40%
Conservative Liberal Democrats Labour UKIP
Independent/Other Scottish National Party Christian Party Green Party
Plaid Cymru Christian People's Alliance BNP
Comparison with ElectorateUK election
result
Evangelicals expressing preference
Difference from all electorate
Conservative 36.0% 39.3% 3.3%
Liberal Democrats 23.0% 29.1% 6.1%
Labour 29.0% 22.1% -6.9%
UKIP 3.1% 2.4% -0.7%
Independent/Other 2.3% 2.3%
Scottish National Party 1.7% 1.5% -0.2%
Christian Party 0.1% 1.2% 1.1%
Green Party 1.0% 1.0% 0.0%
Plaid Cymru 0.6% 0.5% -0.1%
Christian People's Alliance 0.0% 0.5% 0.5%
BNP 1.9% 0.0% -1.9%
96.4% 100.0%
NB total excludes NI parties and others
Evangelicals in Black Majority Churches n= 646
2%
2%
1%
0%
2%
18%
12%
61%
0%
0%
2%Conservative
Liberal Democrats
Labour
UKIP
Independent/Other
Scottish National Party
Christian Party
Green Party
Christian People's Alliance
Plaid Cymru
BNP
Northern Ireland Evangelicals n= 764
N.I. Electorate May
2010 General Election
25%
25%17%
6%
15%
4%
1%
7%Democratic UnionistParty
Sinn Fein
Social Democratic &Labour Party
Alliance Party
Ulster Conservativesand Unionists - NewForce
Traditional UnionistVoice
Green
Others
Evangelicals in N.I.
36%
1%
7%21%
25%
2%
1%
7%
NI Evangelicals v Electorate
Party % NI VotersEA Survey Difference
Democratic Unionist Party 25.0 37.2 12.2
Sinn Fein 25.5 0.5 -25.0
Social Democratic & Labour Party 16.5 6.8 -9.7
Alliance Party 6.3 20.8 14.5
Ulster Conservatives and Unionists - New Force 15.2 24.7 9.5
Traditional Unionist Voice 3.9 1.9 -2.0
Green 0.5 0.8 0.3
Others 7.1 7.1 0.0
Total 100.0 99.7
GB Evangelicals vote by Gender
Which party did you vote for
0.00%
5.00%
10.00%
15.00%
20.00%
25.00%
30.00%
35.00%
Conse
rvat
ive
Liber
al Dem
ocra
ts
Labo
ur
Prefe
r not
to sa
y
Christ
ian P
arty
FemaleMaleTotal
By Age group
0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%
16 to 24
25 to 34
35 to 44
45 to 54
55 to 64
65 to 74
75plus
Voting by newspapers read
Newspaper Readership GB Evangelicals by 3 main parties
0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50%
The Times Daily Mirror Daily Mail Daily Express The Sun The Guardian The Independent
ConservativeLiberal DemocratsLabour
Evangelical Issues
What panel survey members contacted politicians about
Attitudes on diversity % “agree a lot”
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
Christians should workcollaboratively with
people of other faithson community projects
the followers of allreligions should be free
to publicly practisetheir faith in theUK
the UK is a Christiancountry and this shouldbe reflected by its laws
women should beeligible for all roles
within the church in thesame way men are
Overall
Conservative voters
Lib Dem voters
Labour voters
As reported by BRIN on 18 February 2012, 56% of adults think that Britain is a Christian country and 61% that it should be,
Attitudes on society % “agree a lot”
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
it's becoming moredifficult for Christiansto speak freely about
what they believe
evangelism and socialaction are equallyimportant tasks
many churches andorganisations areplacing too much
emphasis on socialaction
human actions arecontributing to climate
change (greens =74.5%)
Overall
Conservative voters
Lib Dem voters
Labour voters
Attitudes - life issues and sex % “agree a lot”
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
assisted suicide isalways wrong
sexual intercourseoutside of marriage is
always wrong
homosexual actionsare always wrong
abortion can never bejustified
Overall
Conservative voters
Lib Dem voters
Labour voters
Attitudes – Theology by party% “agree a lot”
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
100.00%
Jesus is the only wayto God
evolution andChristianity are
incompatible: youcannot believe both
hell is a place wherethe condemned will
suffer eternalconscious pain
The Bible in its originalmanuscript, is without
error
Overall
Conservative voters
Lib Dem voters
Labour voters
Attitudes International (panel n= 1048)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Unless we act to reduce global warming many ofthe poorest countries will suffer major disasters in
the next 100 years.
The UK government should speak out morestrongly on issues of human rights and religious
liberty in countries with oppressive regimes.
The international system of banking and trade isunfair and the poorest people in the world suffer
as a result.
The international arms trade is immoral andshould be stopped.
Strongly agree Agree Not sure Disagree Strongly disagree
References
Andersen, A., Tilley, J. and Heath, A.F. (2005), ‘Political Knowledge and Enlightened Preferences: Party Choice through the Electoral Cycle’, British Journal of Political Science, 35: 285–302.
Bruce, Steve (2007) Paisley: Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland, Oxford: OUP.
Kotler-Berkowitz, L.A. (2001), ‘Religion and Voting Behaviour in Great Britain: A
Reassessment’, British Journal of Political Science, 31(3): 523–555.
McAndrew, Siobhan (2010) “Religious Faith and Contemporary Attitudes”, in A. Park
et al (eds) British Social Attitudes: the 16th Report, London: Sage, pp. 87-113.
Mitchell, Claire (2006). Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Putnam, Robert D. and David E. Parker (2010) American Grace: How Religion Divides
and Unites Us, New York: Simon and Schuster.