Head Above the Parapet

Had I still been a liberal - and still more a Liberal Democrat - I probably would have voted for Tim Farron as party leader, normally being drawn to people who aren't 'safe pairs of hands' but who might actually cause a bit of trouble, who have a few jagged edges and unpolished surfaces. 

The decision wouldn't necessarily have been affected by his much-reported Christian faith, although in the British context it makes him even more an outsider, and therefore interesting. As Mr Farron has pointed out, in the US politicians are virtually obliged to invent a faith, while in Britain they feel compelled to deny it. 

This will bring him problems. Of course Christians vary like clouds in the sky, and for some Mr Farron's unsoundness on matters such as same-sex marriage is enough to deny him the title at all. His interview on the Today Programme yesterday gave something of the flavour of what he may be in for from rather less specialised audiences: John Humphrys gave rather a lot of time over to the MP's prayer life and how that might feed into his political attitudes. His question 'Would you seek advice from God before making important political decisions, such as whether to invade Iraq or something?' drew the response that 'this is the shocking revelation that a Christian says his prayers sometimes'. I thought Mr Farron took it all rather effectively, replying that what you pray for is wisdom rather than a particular answer, that everyone, religious or secular, brings value judgements to a decision, meaning Christians could conscientiously reach quite different conclusions about a specific matter. So why bother? Mr Humphrys insisted. 'It's what we do,' Mr Farron countered.

In a largely secular society, this is a fair matter to inquire about. People don't understand how a person's prayer life might work because they don't do it themselves, and seem to believe:

1. That a Christian will pray and expect to receive an answer by a voice or some means that they can interpret as supernatural;
2. That prayer requires setting reason to one side (when told that Mr Farron would 'consider the evidence' in a decision, Mr Humphrys insisted 'So you wouldn't ask God for advice?') in deference to some other authority - the Bible, an ecclesiastical magisterium, or an internal concept of God. 

Believe this, and somebody in a position of power admitting to praying becomes creepy and worrying. It's not unreasonable that reasonable people should want to know more.

At times over the last 15 years or so the Liberal Democrats appeared to be turning into the political wing of the British Humanist Association, so Mr Farron's ascendancy - albeit in the circumstances of the party's shredding in the elections - is remarkable. Of course, those who are perturbed by the role God might play in his decision-making processes probably need not be very concerned, as for some time to come no Liberal Democrat MP will be taking any more momentous decision than what colour to paint his constituency office.