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The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) is a Christian rightist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was founded in its present form in 1999, having grown out of a cross-party
advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
called the Movement for Christian Democracy. The first leader of the party was Ram Gidoomal; Alan Craig took over from him in 2004 and resigned in 2012, later defecting to the UK Independence Party (UKIP). He was replaced by Sidney Cordle, the party's current leader.


History


Movement for Christian Democracy

The beginnings of the party can be traced to the Movement for Christian Democracy (MCD),Freston, ''Protestant Political Parties'', 52 a movement founded in 1990 with the aim to combat rising secularism within the United Kingdom. The three founding members were
David Alton David Patrick Paul Alton, Baron Alton of Liverpool, (born 15 March 1951) is a British politician. He is a former Liberal Party and later Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament who has sat as a crossbench member of the House of Lords since 1997 ...
, Derek Enright and Ken Hargreaves, who were Members of Parliament representing the Liberal,
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
and Conservative parties respectively. Though political parties with explicitly Christian aims and values had been previously established within the United Kingdom, such as the
Protestant Unionist Party The Protestant Unionist Party (PUP)Not to be confused with the Progressive Unionist Party. was a unionist political party operating in Northern Ireland from 1966 to 1971. It was the forerunner of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and emerged ...
(PUP) in Northern Ireland, the MCD, unlike the PUP, claimed to represent both Protestants and Catholics on a nationwide, rather than regionally-based, basis. The MCD existed as a cross-party
advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...
and never became a fully-fledged political party. However, many of its members later sought to form the CPA; the movement's chairman, Dr.
Alan Storkey Alan Storkey (born 2 October 1943, in London) is an economist, sociologist and artist. He is known for his writing and lectures and for his work on transport and the arms industry, arms trade. He grew up in Wembley, Nottingham and Norwich, the so ...
, and its vice-chairman, David Campanale, formed the CPA in 1999 following an internal consultation of MCD members.


Formation of the Christian Peoples Alliance

Following the devolution of the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
and the Welsh Assembly, elements of proportional representation at a local government level saw the party gain confidence. In 2000, Ram Gidoomal, a convert from Hinduism to Christianity, became the party's leader. Gidoomal stood for election in the
2000 London mayoral election The 2000 London mayoral election was held on 4 May 2000 to elect the Mayor of London. It was the first election to the office established that year, after a referendum in London. Electoral system The election used a supplementary vote system ...
, gaining 98,549 votes and finishing fifth, ahead of the
Greens Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...
in first preference votes. The party campaigned on job opportunities for Londoners, amongst other policies. In November that year, a candidate supported by the Christian Peoples Alliance stood at the Preston by-election, finishing seventh.


Craig leadership

Following this, the party continued its campaign work in London, mostly in working class areas, such as
Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
in Newham. In 2002, Alan Craig became the first Christian Democrat to be elected in Britain, as a member of the local Newham council. The party's 'Mayflower Declaration' laid out the party's values and policies, voicing its opposition to the prospect of the Iraq War, deeming it "illegal, unwise and immoral" — a position by which it has stood. After the
2004 London mayoral election The 2004 election to the post of Mayor of London took place on 10 June 2004. It was being held on the same day as other local elections and the UK part of the 2004 European Parliament elections, so Londoners had a total of five votes on three ...
, Gidoomal stepped down as party leader to be succeeded by Craig. The party stood members for the 2005 general election with little electoral success, though a "blind candidating" contest run by the BBC's '' Newsnight'' programme saw members of the public, unaware of the party of each contestant speaking, place the party's manifesto and policies second. The party had more success in 2006, gaining two more council seats in Canning Town. In the following year, the party had two members elected at parish council level for
Aston cum Aughton Aston cum Aughton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, with a population of 13,961 according to the 2001 census. It consists of the villages of Aston and Aughton, along with Swallownest. To t ...
in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. In the same year, it also gained encouragement from Scottish Catholic bishops
Keith O'Brien Keith Michael Patrick Cardinal O'Brien (17 March 1938 – 19 March 2018) was a senior-ranking Catholic prelate in Scotland. He was the Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh from 1985 to 2013. Cardinal O'Brien was the leader of the Catho ...
and
Philip Tartaglia Filippo "Philip" Tartaglia (11 January 1951 – 13 January 2021) was a Scottish prelate who served as a bishop of the Catholic Church. He served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Glasgow from 2012 until 2021. He previously served as Bishop of Paisl ...
for its social stances, including its stance on marriage, rights for unborn children and supporting the Church in the adoption debate. The party also defended the Anglican bishop
Michael Nazir-Ali Michael James Nazir-Ali ( ur, ; born 19 August 1949) is a Pakistani-born British Roman Catholic priest and former Anglican bishop who served as the 106th Bishop of Rochester from 1994 to 2009 and, before that, as Bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan. ...
after comments he made in the media regarding
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. As part of a party pact with the
Christian Party Christian Party may refer to: *Christian Party of Austria * Christian Party (Lithuania) * Christian Party (Samoa) * Christian Party (St. Maarten) * Christian Party (UK), includes the Scottish Christian Party and the Welsh Christian Party *Christian ...
, Craig stood for the London mayoral election in 2008 as "The Christian Choice", gaining almost 3% of the vote. This was followed with 249,493 votes at the European Parliament election 2009, 1.6% of the total.


Abbey Hills Mosque

The CPA campaigned against the building of the Abbey Mills Mosque in West Ham, planned to have been built by a sect of Islam which the CPA claimed was a "radical sect". The party's broadcast in relation to the planning was censored on both the BBC and on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, leading to the CPA taking unsuccessful legal action. A 23-year-old man from Stevenage posted a death threat on '' YouTube'' in response to the group's opposition to the mosque's construction. The party claimed the planned mosque was an "unwanted landmark", stating its belief that the construction would "undermine community cohesion". A petition on the official Downing Street website to prevent the mosque's construction gained more than 255,000 signatures, claiming that the mosque would "cause terrible violence".


Craig resignation

Craig resigned as leader in October 2012 and later joined the UK Independence Party.


Targeting of Stella Creasy

In the 2019 general election campaign, '' The Guardian'' reported that the CPA would have 30 candidates and that the party had admitted that its primary ambition was to unseat the pro-abortion rights Labour MP
Stella Creasy Stella Judith Creasy (born 5 April 1977) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for the London constituency of Walthamstow since 2010. She served in the frontbench teams of Ed Miliband and Harriet ...
, who was heavily pregnant at the time. This followed a similar targeting of Creasy in October 2019 by the UK arm of the US
anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
group, the
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform (CBR) is an American anti-abortion organization. The Executive Director of the CBR is Gregg Cunningham, a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives who has also held a number of other go ...
, which had led the police to pass a file to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether its campaign constituted an offence of harassment. The CPA finished last in the Walthamstow constituency with less than 1% of the vote, losing its deposit.


Organisation

Annual accounts submitted to the Electoral Commission show an income of £11,000 for 2013.


Leadership


International affiliation

Since 2007, the party has been affiliated to the European Christian Political Movement, an association of Christian Democrat parties, think tanks and politicians across Europe.


Ideology

The party has campaigned on a range of issues, winning success in 2000 when it organised a petition against government plans to require Asian visitors to the UK to place a £10,000 'bond'. In 2000 and 2004 in London, it put inner-city regeneration and fighting discrimination, as its top policy priorities. Its policies to cut energy-use and road congestion through a motorway coach-network won acceptance at government level. Its policies in support of marriage and church schools have become popular currency among secular parties. The CPA has also opposed the reclassification of cannabis, When Craig became leader he introduced policies in favour of linking Christianity to the European Union Constitution, building more
church schools A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...
and supporting 5th century Christian morality. He also has led campaigns backing the UNISON steward at Newham Council who faced disciplinary action; against plans to build London's large casino in Newham, against the Excel Arms Fair; against what he claims are
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
's plans to move local families out of
Canning Town Canning Town is a district in the London Borough of Newham, East London. The district is located to the north of the Royal Victoria Dock, and has been described as the "Child of the Victoria Docks" as the timing and nature of its urbanisation ...
in support of yuppie housing. Craig has also campaigned against proposals to demolish parts of Queen Street Market in favour of "non-invasive refurbishment" environment. The CPA has contested local authority elections at parish, borough, city and county level in London, Glasgow, Sheffield, Leeds, Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Gloucester, Northampton and Suffolk. Since Cordle became leader, the party has focused more on putting up candidates in national elections and developing a comprehensive manifesto covering all issues of concern to them, such as abortion and adoption rights. The party fought three regions in the 2014 European Parliament elections and they had 17 candidates in the 2015 general election and 31 in the 2017 one, a record number of losses for the party.


Same-sex marriage

The party was involved in the campaign against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 with its leader Sid Cordle speaking at a rally in Trafalgar Square. While the debates were taking place he spoke at a rally outside Westminster. In May 2014, during the EU elections, under questioning from Andrew Neil on the BBC '' Daily Politics'' programme Cordle said that it was possible that recent storms in the UK could have been caused by God, saying, "I think all Christians believe that God does, and can do, things with nature. A lot of Christians believe God is angry over 'gay marriage' and God can show that anger if he wants to." In May 2017, on the ''Daily Politics'' programme, Cordle was accused of "embarrassing" himself and was described as a "bigot" by the journalist Owen Jones after claiming that marriage's sole purpose was the procreation of children. The presenter, Jo Coburn, was forced to ask Cordle to allow Jones to speak on several occasions, but Cordle accused Jones of being "insulting" and claimed that Coburn's reluctance to allow him to respond to Jones was "fake news".


Economic and European policy

The Christian Peoples Alliance rejects
class struggle Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...
doctrine and supports a
mixed market economy A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed econo ...
, with an emphasis on the community, social solidarity, support for
social welfare provision Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
and some regulation of market forces. The central theme being social justice, responsible charity and an emphasis on "people before profit". Within the Mayflower Declaration the party sets out as goals and desires; providing resources to discourage economic dependency and promote gainful employment. A holistic approach to care, which moves beyond mere financial assistance, as well as help for those in danger of being pushed to the margins of society, like the
homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...
and disabled. The Mayflower Declaration was updated and reprinted in early 2013 just after Cordle became leader. It now has a new introduction and at the back the policy on Europe was changed from support for the EU to "While we are members of the European Union to work with fellow Christians to seek to bring about moral and democratic reform." It subsequently went further and in its 2014 European manifesto said it wanted a referendum on the EU and that if a referendum was held it would support leaving the EU.


Election results

The party has never won a seat as a Member of Parliament. However, it has won some local government council elections. In Newham London Borough Council, Alan Craig was a councillor (2002-2010), as were Simeon Ademolake (2006–2010) and Denise Stafford (2006–2010). Paul Martin and David Gee were elected to Aston-cum-Aughton Parish Council (2007–2009).


House of Commons

Thirty-one candidates stood for the CPA in the
2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November  ...
. The party contested by-elections in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021, and is doing so in 2022. The party stood 27 candidates in the 2019 general election.


London Assembly

† In 2008 the CPA fielded Joint-ticket candidates with the
Christian Party Christian Party may refer to: *Christian Party of Austria * Christian Party (Lithuania) * Christian Party (Samoa) * Christian Party (St. Maarten) * Christian Party (UK), includes the Scottish Christian Party and the Welsh Christian Party *Christian ...
, standing as "Christian Choice"
The party has consistently contested elections to the
London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...
but failed to gain any seats.


See also

*
Christian Concern Christian Concern is the trading name of CCFON Ltd, a not for profit advocacy group described as 'one of the most prominent evangelical organisations in the United Kingdom', reaching a mailing list of more than 43,000 people. Christian Concern se ...
*
Christian Institute The Christian Institute (CI) is a pressure group operating in the United Kingdom, promoting a fundamentalist Christian viewpoint, founded on a belief in Biblical inerrancy. The CI is a registered charity. The group does not report numbers of staf ...
*
Christian Party Christian Party may refer to: *Christian Party of Austria * Christian Party (Lithuania) * Christian Party (Samoa) * Christian Party (St. Maarten) * Christian Party (UK), includes the Scottish Christian Party and the Welsh Christian Party *Christian ...
* Christianity and politics *
Jubilee Centre The Jubilee Centre is a Christian social reform think tank based in the United Kingdom which conducts research into the contemporary relevance of the biblical vision for society. The Jubilee Centre was founded in 1983 by Michael Schluter to explo ...
*
ProLife Alliance ProLife Alliance (PLA) or simply ProLife, was an anti-abortion, single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2004. Since that time it has continued as an advocacy group. It is opposed to any form of euthanasi ...
(1997–2004)


Notes


References


Bibliography

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External links

* {{United Kingdom Alternative Vote referendum, 2011 Social conservative parties Eurosceptic parties in the United Kingdom Opposition to same-sex marriage Political parties established in 1999 Right-wing parties in the United Kingdom Christian political parties in the United Kingdom 1999 establishments in the United Kingdom European Christian Political Movement