Following Reform’s staggering performance at last week’s local elections, one of its councillors has suggested that many Christians voted for the party “because they want their country back”.
The election results saw Reform go from almost nothing to over 1,400 council seats. Between them Labour and the Conservatives lost over 2,000 seats, with around three quarters of them being Labour. The Liberal Democrats gained 155 seats, while the Greens won 441 seats. Their performance in Scotland was particularly noteworthy, putting them on a par with Labour.
Speaking to Premier Christian News, Stephen Reed, deputy leader of Derbyshire County Council said that “a lot of Christians [were] motivated to stand for election because they want their country back, they want Christian values back”.
Reed blamed the political establishment for their own failure, saying they had become “too woke and too progressive”.
“It’s encouraging to see people are wanting change. A lot of people are voting for Reform, it’s good to see we’re having a move back towards the values of family, community and country. That’s what Reform stands for,” he said.
Reform leader Nigel Farage has previously suggested there is a strong disconnect between church leaders and ordinary believers when it comes to support for his party, particularly in the Church of England.
Last year the Bishop of Oxford wrote an open letter to Farage criticising him for attempting “to politicise the questions of migration and asylum by deliberately increasing fear of the stranger in our communities”.
Farage has dismissed such the concerns of some in the church, saying they were “out of touch, perhaps with their own flock”.
For his part, Reed, said there was no contradiction between Christian teaching and Reform’s plans, particularly on immigration.
“Yes, you welcome your neighbour. But all of the teachings of Jesus point to what we do as individuals, not corporately as a nation. He’s not speaking to governments. Jesus said: ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and give to God what is God’s’,” he said.
He added, “Charity starts at home. Before we can help others, we need to look after ourselves. We need to fix the issues with homelessness, deprivation and poverty that we have in our own society, before we help other people.”
