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Churches
Election BulletinIssue 1 - February
2010
Although the
date of the General Election is still unknown, it is looking
more likely that Thursday 6 May is a safe bet.
Churches are
already gearing up for hustings meetings and campaigners are
working hard to push their issues with Parliamentary
candidates.It's
a busy time for everyone involved in
politics.
Churches Election Website Goes
Live
Last
month we launched www.churcheselection.org.uk -
hosted by Churches Together in Britain and
Ireland and a resource for all the churches.Here you
can
find:
Faith in
Politics,
a 16-page
guide to some of the key policy areas likely to be debated in
the run up to polling day.Each subject has been
prepared by a leading Christian expert or campaigner in that
field.It does
not represent a 'Church' view or support a party line, but is
designed to encourage Christians to engage with a range of
important issues facing our country.
Planning a
hustings meeting is our advice
to local church based groups who are thinking about organising
a community hustings.This builds on our experience of Churches Together
groups planning and running events like this at General
Elections for more than 30 years.
In
the coming weeks and months more features will be added,
including:
An
online churches hustings registration system and database,
where you can advertise your meeting and see what else is
happening
More
issues and analysis of the key
topics
A monthly
Churches' General Election e-Newsletter
A Welsh
translation of 'Planning a hustings
meeting'
Analysis
of the main parties' manifestos
Links
to other Christian organisations websites that are gearing
up for an exciting and important General Election
campaign
News from the
Churches about what they are doing during the
campaign
is a project
designed to help people who have a learning disability get
easy information about politics, how politics
affects people and how to get involved and have a say in how
the country is run.The website is also supplemented by printed materials
for people who have difficulty using
computers.
Churches
Hustings and Extremist Parties
If you are
thinking about arranging a hustings meetings but have concerns
about inviting candidates whose parties' views are contrary to
the church's teaching, there are a number of sources of advice
and information.
The
Electoral Commission advises hustings organisers
who are organising an event open to the public or who are
thinking about not inviting all the candidates to contact
them as soon as possible to make sure that the proper rules
are followed. Contact
information is available
here.
What
can I say?
New Charity
Commission guidance on charities and political
activity
