Courting the electorate

Some interesting articles about the various ethnic or groups of voters in the media at the moment, particularly Christians.

The Belfast Telegraph reports:
"Fewer than half of all Asians in Britain are likely to vote in the General Election, a new survey suggests.
Just 44% of Asians said they would vote on May 6, a poll for digital radio station BBC Asian Network found.
This compares to 55% of the general population, according to an ICM poll for the Guardian last week.
Among the Asian voters who said they would head to the polling booths, people of Indian origin were the most enthusiastic (51%), followed by Bangladeshis (39%) and Pakistanis (38%).
Research by the BBC Asian Network found there were more Asian candidates standing for the main parties than ever before - 89 compared to 68 in 2005. "

ELECTION hopefuls also took their first stab at persuading the Irish community of their commitment last week at the House of Commons according to The Irish Post
"Representatives of the three main political parties outlined their understanding of the Irish agenda at the launch of the Federation of Irish Societies’ ‘Make Irish Votes Count’ campaign."

Whilst The Guardian has a piece on Christians in Scotland and another on the Jewish vote  and BBC Wales has an article on `The God Vote`
"The Westminster 2010 Declaration, signed by former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey and Cardinal O'Brien, the leader of Catholics in Scotland, has some strong advice for the one in 10 or so people thought to attend church every week. Christians should work to ensure "religious liberty and freedom of conscience are unequivocally protected against interference by the state and other threats", while they "will not be intimidated by any cultural or political power into silence or acquiescence".
The declaration goes on: "We call upon all those in UK positions of leadership, responsibility and influence to pledge to respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold these beliefs and to act according to Christian conscience."
Its website encourages voters to e-mail parliamentary candidates to find out their views.
More than 30,000 people have backed the declaration. 

Paul Woolley, director of the Christian think-tank Theos, said: "The fact that the election looks very close will give a certain relevance to the question of whether Christians can influence voting."
He added that, despite a commonly held view that British public life is becoming ever-more secular, parties had been "working hard to make inroads into faith-based communities and organisations"."

It continues............

"Elizabeth Berridge, chairman of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, thinks low turnout at elections means Christians play an important role, as they are more likely to vote than most people - with about 80% doing so........Over the last few years, explicitly faith-based political parties, tired of compromise, have featured more prominently at elections. 

A spokesman for the Christian Peoples Alliance, which is putting up 17 general election candidates, said: "The big parties are trying to pursue big-tent politics, looking to reach out to the largest possible spectrum. That's the politics of the last century. We are building for the politics of tomorrow."
He added: "There is a compromised moral relativism which is endemic in British politics. The moral compass has to be pointed north if we are to get away from big-tent politics." 

The alliance harbours long-term ambitions of emulating Christian Democrats in much of northern Europe, where they are effectively the main conservative parties.
The spokesman said that policies like cutting inner-city poverty, restricting bankers' bonuses and giving financial help to mothers and fathers who want to care for their children, rather than return to work, would prove popular in the long term.........

....Christian Party leader George Hargreaves said: "Most of our general election candidates are in marginal seats. We can have a king-maker effect, depending on what message we want to send out........"We will look at other parties' candidates in full to see what they stand for. That's democracy in action." 

They are encouraging Christians to look at politics through the prism of their own beliefs. If the electoral sums on 6 May add up, "doing God" might not be a rarity in British politics for much longer."

The Belfast Telegraph reports that "Prime Minister Gordon Brown hailed Christian churches as "the conscience of our country" in his Easter greeting posted on the Downing Street website.

The Prime Minister's Good Friday missive hailed the "redeeming power of faith" and said the forthcoming official visit of Pope Benedict would make this a special year for the UK.

"Easter is the most important date in the Christian calendar because it is when we reflect on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus," he wrote.

"Christians all over Britain and the world will be celebrating in their homes and churches and thinking about the redeeming power of faith."

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