The Bishop of Leicester is seeking to ban election materials containing a picture of a religious building that “suggests a close connection” between a candidate and the place of worship or the religion associated with it.
Rt Rev Martyn Snow has tabled the amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, which refers to the use of churches or other religious buildings to imply endorsement. The proposals and briefing documents do not single out a particular party.
On the Faith in the Public Square Substack, the bishop and social policy advisor Florence Gildea said in recent years there had been “more leaflets - of all colours: red, yellow, blue and turquoise – with candidates posing in front of church buildings”.
They set out concerns about compliance with charity law, of churches being seen to endorse parties or candidates, as well as how church leaders or congregations will often only know images had been used “when a leaflet drops on the floor, leaving no means of recourse”.
The article highlighted the principle of elected politicians representing all their constituents, akin to the parish priest having a duty of spiritual care to all parishioners; not giving “the impression that they are aligned with a particular religion and that followers of that faith could expect to receive preferential treatment if the candidate were elected”.
Bishop Martyn and Gildea wrote: “When a church appears, in the eyes of local residents, aligned with one particular party, the reality that one can find a diversity of political opinions within a single church congregation is flattened – and many may well question whether they would be welcomed at its doors if they vote differently? Should they understand by the image on the election leaflet that that candidate’s policies represent the Christian view on everything from welfare to education to potholes?”
Responding to concerns that the amendment could reduce the church’s role in public life, they said: “We want to see churches and other places of worship hosting hustings, encouraging voter registration, and serving as polling booths. We want to see candidates engaging with their local faith groups and understanding their concerns. And we want to see people of faith entering public life.
“Some may be concerned that we are asking the State to meddle in the affairs of religion. But, in a way, it’s the reverse: we are asking for protection for religious spaces from being used without their consent in the very particular context of election campaigns.”
Bishop Martyn is also sponsoring an amendment that would require political campaigning material to disclose whether it uses images, audio or video that has been generated or altered with artificial intelligence, according to parliamentary documents published on Monday.
The Bill has its first Committee Stage sitting in the House of Lords on 2 November.