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Diary of a (Maybe) Retired Pastor

Tag: democracy

  • A New Prime Minister

    mayberetiredpastor

    A New Prime Minister

    Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.

    Winston Churchill 1947 (1)

    … there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

    Letter to the Romans 13:1 New Testament, The Bible

    The UK has a new Prime Minister. The appointment of Andy Burnham as Prime Minister has been unusual for recent parliaments because he did not enter office as the result of a General Election or, indeed, by an election of Labour Party (the party holding the majority in Parliament) members. He was elected unopposed as leader of the Labour Party by Labour MPs only. There has been considerable comment that he should submit himself to a General Election to obtain a mandate so that his premiership can be legitimised. Such arguments have been put by opposition parties, members of the public and, even, by seasoned political commentators. Whilst it is a viewpoint that could be held it is, to my mind, a mistaken understanding of our constitutional procedures.

    When I was taught basic constitutional theory at school, it was made very clear that we do not have a presidential system of democracy where supreme executive power is conferred via direct popular vote. We have a representative form of parliamentary democracy. We elect individual members of parliament who are our representatives and, crucially, not our delegates. They do not arrive in Parliament bound by a set of instructions given to them by the people who voted for them. Instead, as our representatives, they are expected to exercise their individual judgement on the various matters presented to them as members of parliament. One of those matters is the appointment of the government including the Prime Minister. Sir Keir Starmer had to step down as Prime Minister precisely because  he had lost the support of the Labour MP’s. Andy Burnham is Prime Minister because he has the overwhelming support of the Labour MP’s. His personal mandate is the same as every MP and every minister in government, it is from the parliamentary constituency which he represents. In his case, he was given a remarkable overall majority in a by-election turnout that was higher than in the last two general elections (2). Andy Burnham’s mandate is, indeed, stronger than many of his colleagues.  

    Democracy comes in many forms. It is unfortunate, that, for many people, the American form of presidential democracy is considered the norm. This has resulted in the steady transformation of UK governance from a collective, where the Prime Minister is merely the “first amongst equals”, to a presidency where the Prime Minister controls and dictates to the other members of the government. Charisma (or the lack of it) and power have come to replace collective wisdom. Winston Churchill’s 1947 quote above is a reminder that democracy is merely the best of a bad bunch and is subject to many weaknesses. The present American administration is the clearest example of one democratic system’s weaknesses.

    1. https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1947/nov/11/parliament-bill PARLIAMENT BILL HC Deb 11 November 1947 vol 444 cc203-321 acc. 21.07.2026 13:00
    2. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/what-turnout-makerfield-election-34145624 acc. 21.07.2026 14:51

  • The Strongest Democracy?

    mayberetiredpastor

    The Strongest Democracy?

    First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.

    1 Timothy 2:1-2 New Testament, The Bible

    We have been in the US since the beginning of the January on grandparent duties. Consequently, we have had a ringside seat as President Trump began his second term as president. It has been like watching a horror show – deeply disturbing yet fascinating at the same time! He has already done many things that have left us open-mouthed,  but the  most disturbing was the very first thing he did on taking office: the pardoning of those who had been convicted and sentenced for their actions in the January 6th attack on the Capitol building at the beginning of Biden’s presidency.

    I was astonished to realise that an American President apparently has untrammelled powers of pardon. Previously, I had assumed there were strict conditions on who could be pardoned and that this only happened rarely. But President Trump in an unceremonious flaunting of untrammelled power set aside mass convictions and sentences that had been imposed after due process of law. What we see here is the unravelling of the rule of law. The law is not perfect but it ensures that everyone is held equally accountable (in principle) before it. This was severely undermined by the Supreme Court ruling that a president cannot be held legally accountable for actions taken in the capacity of president and now, Trump, by overturning convictions he doesn’t like, has made the law subject to the personal whims of the president and there is nothing that can be done about it.

    This seems to me to be a major turning point in American democracy. Americans have delighted in boasting about the strength of their model of democracy. But now we see that, at its core, it is weak and, perhaps, now is crippled. Unspoken convention has been the thing that has held American democracy together, but now there is a president who pays no heed to unspoken convention and who is supported by a Congress that likewise has abandoned convention. The consequence is the crumbling of democratic rule. In it’s place we have the rule of a dictator – although I suspect Trump would prefer the title “King”. Which is ironic given the history of the US.

    Christians are commanded to pray for kings, governors and governments. This is sometimes read as simply praying for the well-being of the ruler(s). It is, in fact, a holding to account of all human rule. We ask that they be held to account and conformed to the standard of the heavenly court. Certainly, this is a time for prayer for Americans.