The Reverend Philip Banks writes:

The General Election

“What is leadership? What is it today? It is very hard to define. The libraries are full of books about it. Training courses are offered in it. But one thing is certain – anyone who leads will be both approved of and despised, loved and hated – often at the same time”. So wrote Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster, at the time of a previous election. 

This month we face another General Election, choosing our local Member of Parliament - and in the process we will also be electing, under the authority of the crown, a government and Prime Minister. But I have a suspicion, in the current political, global and economic climate, that we do not really know what we want from our leaders. On the one hand we want strong leadership, offering order to life, fairness in society and a sense of direction. On the other hand, following a leader means that we have to trust something of ourselves to someone else – and deep down we demand freedom to be ourselves. It is hard sometimes to see how the two can easily be held together. Like beauty or love, we ‘know’ leadership when we see it – but we cannot easily define it! 

It has, however, been ‘ever thus’: and this is the context in which leadership is exercised still today. So – that is itself good enough reason to pray for our leaders and all who are seeking election this year! And the bible calls us to pray for “all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (I Timothy 2:2). 

With all this in mind we will be hosting a ‘hustings’ again at St Peter’s, as we did at the last election, in which all the candidates in our constituency will have the chance to say something about their views and hopes both on national and local matters of concern. As before, there will also be the chance for questions, and I will again chair the forum, strictly timing each candidate, to ensure fairness for all parties. 

Coggeshall now falls in the new ‘Witham’ constituency under the freshly drawn parliamentary map of the England. We will be saying farewell to Brooks Newmark who has served us as MP for the past five years, as he will be standing for election in neighbouring Braintree constituency – we wish him and his family well in the future.