Only 15% of Church of England Priests Back Right-Wing Parties Versus 60% who Back Left-Wing Parties


The Church of England was once described as ‘the Tory party at prayer’ but this is no longer reflected in the pulpit, a survey by the Times has found, with 60% of priests backing Left-wing parties and just 15% backing Right-wing parties.

Thirty-six per cent of priests back Labour and the Conservatives are in fourth place on 13%, behind the Liberal Democrats and “don’t know”.

The Times poll of almost 1,200 active Church of England clergy also found that 75.4 per cent of respondents backed Remain at the 2016 referendum, compared with 18.8 per cent who voted Leave. This appears to put them at odds with their congregations, after previous surveys found that between 55 and 66 per cent of Anglican worshippers supported Brexit. …

The Times worked closely with academics and polling experts to devise the survey, which was sent to a random sample of 5,000 priests with English addresses from Crockford’s Clerical Directory of Anglican clergy. It received 1,486 responses and results were analysed from the 1,185 in active ministry.

The Times followed the same methodology used by YouGov and the University of Lancaster for the last survey of Church of England priests in 2014 and received a similar number of responses. The age and sex of our respondents tallied extremely closely with the overall breakdown for the church’s entire body of active priests.

Asked who they would back if there were a general election tomorrow, 36.1% of respondents said Labour, 17.9% the Lib Dems, 16.8% did not know, and 13.2% said the Tories. A further 6.4% said Green and 1.3% Reform.

The survey found that more than 80% of priests opposed the Government’s policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, with 65.7% strongly opposing and 15.1% “tending to oppose” it versus 2.9% who strongly support and 11.9% who tend to support it.

Among respondents 89.2% deemed it appropriate for the Archbishop of Canterbury to publicly criticise government policies, versus 7.6% who found it inappropriate.

No wonder the C of E is so often afflicted by progressive-liberal groupthink and fails to recognise when it is alienating half the country. Its ranks are dominated by Lefties.

Worth reading in full.

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10navigator
10navigator
2 years ago

That’s because they (clergy) take Jesus at his word: “It’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

DHJ
DHJ
2 years ago
Reply to  10navigator

No need to resort to scripture. All it takes to change an organisation is to get one influential person in the door or a pool of candidates with a slightly different mindset from that traditionally associated with the organisation. Over time you have a different organisation.

Destroying the values from the inside, by fault or design, may take a while but it’s less obvious and the organisation retains some influence and credibility under the new ‘management’.

Nearhorburian
Nearhorburian
2 years ago
Reply to  10navigator

But the C of E is rich, so they’re clearly not doing what you claim they are.

Claphamanian
Claphamanian
2 years ago
Reply to  10navigator

Ah! The Archbishop of Canterbury! Who would have thought that he would come out as a 19th century hellfire and damnation preacher! In his address to the Lords, he quoted passages of scripture to his fellow peers which threaten such things. Applied to the UK under the Tories in the 21st century, are these passages really intended to mean that this country is to be cast into the outer darkness for not abolishing its borders? While on holiday this year I heard a cracking sermon along just these lines while visiting a local church. The vicar quoted various passages from scripture to support accommodating the boat migrants, regardless of circumstances. It’s unlikely that the congregation realised that making a general application of these passages to the conditions of the present day was to selectively use them. Especially the one about in giving hospitality to strangers people have thereby entertained angels (the vicar not necessarily meaning the supernatural variety – I’m pretty sure that M&S don’t stock ambrosia (not the yellow stuff) – but ‘angel’ with the meaning it had of a guide or leader (in Revelation, of a church): in the 19th century, the term ‘angel’ could be applied to… Read more »

djmo
2 years ago
Reply to  10navigator

“…and therefore you should support rich politicians and advocate for them to take by force from the people that they consider too rich, or at least the wrong kind of rich.”

Is that what you think comes next?

stewart
2 years ago

Team A, Team B. Same shit. Who cares.

AEC
AEC
2 years ago

Lord how depressing: over 70% still haven’t worked it out, and will be voting for the UniParty…

FerdIII
2 years ago
Reply to  AEC

40%-60% of the Church hierarchy are Queer. Have you met a Queer who is not a Communist? You should stuff them and keep them – given how rare that is.
So we have a Queer-Leftard axis of evil in the Churches.
Not really what Christianity is about.
CC is no different, with Pope Idiot and the St Galen mafia.

welshsceptic
welshsceptic
2 years ago
Reply to  FerdIII

Vile comments about ‘queer’ people now, Ferdill, after previous vile comments about Jews. Honestly, just f*ck right off.

MikeAustin
2 years ago

Right wing, left wing, centre – not important as long as they are not extreme or totalitarian. As long as all unalienable freedoms and choice remain, any of them can work.

huxleypiggles
2 years ago

Archbishop Vigano has clearly stated that the Pope has made a deal with the devil and given his support for the depopulation program it is easy to agree with this conclusion.

Jelly Welby is also obviously singing from the same hymn sheet – a bit obvious but I couldn’t resist.

😀

A Y M
2 years ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

Indeed.
The Christian churches are collapsing. Congregations generally do not want the “reforms” that the progresives want which ultimately denuded the Church of real faith. Progressive mores, especially today, are incompatible with Christian orthodoxy. As a result attendance is dropping.

The last days of the church in an evermore Godless society is very much an indicator of the hollowing out of the spiritual leg of Western society.

Pretty sad really.

huxleypiggles
2 years ago
Reply to  A Y M

Well put. I totally agree 👍

Covid-1984
Covid-1984
2 years ago
Reply to  A Y M

A totally true post I’m a Christian, attend church and believe in God . That needs printing off and fixing over Welby’s (Satan’s acolyte) door at his palace.

FerdIII
2 years ago
Reply to  Covid-1984

As a Catholic, I am pretty sure that Climate Change is the new God, Korona was the gravest plague in history, and that anyone who supports Brexit is a Nazi. (based on sermons repeated ad nauseum)

nige.oldfart
2 years ago
Reply to  FerdIII

European democracy was originally imbued with a sense of responsibility and self-discipline, but these spiritual principles have been loosing there force. Spiritual independence is being pressured on all sides by the dictatorship of self-satisfied vulgarity, of the latest fads, and of group interest.

Socialism of any type leads to the total destruction of the human spirit..

It is a shame that I felt I needed to use the words of another man, but this man saw it lived it and warned of the dangers into which we are headed. There have been many in history who are worthy of note and quote, and even some of today. Without the conservatism of the church there is no moral brake for society which will accelerate towards its own destruction. Without a moral compass there is no direction.

EppingBlogger
2 years ago

I didn’t notice a right ing party on that list. Only Reform could vaguely be described as free market and small government oriented, and even that has some oddly leftish sentiments

Lockdown Sceptic
2 years ago

This is because they approve of the way 26 years of Blairite Socialism has brought this country to its knee

DomH75
2 years ago

It’s because the institution has been captured by the left. If you’re really a Christian, you simply need to be one. Buy an Orthodox Bible and read it. Buy a few old books about Christianity – ideally pre-1960s, before the collapse and takeover began – and live a good, caring life according to the tenets of the religion. Christianity isn’t represented by the CofE anymore. Pope Francis is a Liberation theologian, so the Catholic Church is in a bad way under his jackboot. One day, the Church will come back, but for now Christians have to become akin to ronin.

huxleypiggles
2 years ago

A mini dump

https://expose-news.com/2023/09/02/bill-gates-cutting-down-70m-acres-forests/

Billy is really going for it this time.

Mogwai
2 years ago
Reply to  huxleypiggles

PM’d ya! 🙂

huxleypiggles
2 years ago
Reply to  Mogwai

Thanks Mogs. Got it.😀

Mogwai
2 years ago

I saw this meme and thought of Welby. Zero respect for woketard Covidians.

https://twitter.com/goddeketal/status/1698011025432338542

transmissionofflame
2 years ago

The Conservative Party is not “right wing”.

DevonBlueBoy
DevonBlueBoy
2 years ago

Well gosh, in other headlines the sun rises in the East!

Epi
Epi
2 years ago

The long march through the corridors of power. Everywhere has been infiltrated by the left Judiciary, Police, Professional bodies, Education, the Church its tentacles reach far and wide. Thus net zero, continued Covid nonsense (to control us – the left love control), encroachment on our civil liberties, freedom of speech and the list goes on. WAKE UP EVERYONE!!!!

sskinner
2 years ago

He’s got two masks on!!!

Claphamanian
Claphamanian
2 years ago

The 75% of clergy who voted Remain in the 2016 referendum were only giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s (Luke. xx. 21-25).

During Blair’s time as prime minster, a tabloid journalist once described the Church of England as New Labour on its knees. Whether the Tory Party at prayer or left-wingers reading from the gospel according to Marx, the Church of England is just a religion. According to their scriptures, Christians do not have a religion. They have the Life of God in Christ, against which religion is a dead thing.