Movement for Christian Democracy The beginnings of the party can be traced to the Movement for Christian Democracy (MCD), a group founded in 1990 with the aim to combat rising
secularism within the United Kingdom. The three founding members were
David Alton,
Derek Enright and
Ken Hargreaves, who were
Members of Parliament representing the
Liberal Democrat,
Labour and
Conservative parties respectively. Though political parties with explicitly Christian aims and values had been previously established within the United Kingdom, such as the
Protestant Unionist Party (PUP) in
Northern Ireland, the MCD, unlike the PUP, claimed to represent both Protestants and Catholics on a nationwide, rather than regional, basis. However, many of its members sought to form the CPA; the movement's chairman,
Alan Storkey, and its vice-chairman, David Campanale, formed the CPA in 1999 following a consultation of MCD members. In the 1997 general election Storkey stood as a Christian Democrat in
Enfield Southgate.
Formation of the Christian Peoples Alliance Following the devolution of the
Scottish Parliament and the
Welsh Assembly, elements of
proportional representation at a local government level saw the party gain confidence. In 2000, Ram Gidoomal, a convert from
Hinduism to Christianity, became the party's leader. Gidoomal stood for election in the
2000 London mayoral election, gaining 98,549 votes and finishing fifth, ahead of the
Green Party in first preference votes. In November that year, a candidate supported by the Christian Peoples Alliance stood at the
Preston by-election, finishing seventh. Following this, the party continued campaigning in London, mostly in working class areas, such as
Canning Town in
Newham. In 2002, Alan Craig became the first Christian Democrat to be elected in Britain, as a member of
Newham London Borough Council.
Craig leadership After the
2004 London mayoral election, Gidoomal stepped down as party leader to be succeeded by Craig. The party contested the
2005 general election with little electoral success, though a "blind candidating" contest run by the
BBC's
Newsnight programme saw members of the public, unaware of the party of each contestant speaking, place the party's manifesto and policies second. In 2006, The party won two more council seats in
Canning Town. In the following year, the party had two members elected at
parish council level for
Aston cum Aughton in the
Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham. In January 2008, Craig defended Anglican Bishop
Michael Nazir-Ali, following his comments in the Telegraph that "Islamic extremism was creating 'no-go areas' for people of a different faith." Craig described the bishop as "courageous" for raising the matter. As part of a party pact with the
Christian Party, Craig stood for the
London mayoral election in 2008 as "The Christian Choice", gaining almost 3% of the vote. This was followed with 249,493 votes at the
European Parliament election 2009, 1.6% of the total. The party's 'Mayflower Declaration' laid out the party's values and policies, voicing its opposition to the prospect of the
Iraq War, deeming it "illegal, unwise and immoral" — a position by which it has stood. In 2011, Craig was criticised for comparing gay rights activists to Nazis in the
Church of England Newspaper. Craig resigned as leader in October 2012; he later joined the
UK Independence Party (UKIP).
Abbey Hills Mosque The CPA campaigned against the building of the
Abbey Mills Mosque in West Ham, planned to have been built by a
sect of Islam which the CPA claimed was a "radical sect". The party's broadcast in relation to the planning was censored on both the BBC and on
ITV, leading to the CPA taking unsuccessful legal action. A 23-year-old man from Stevenage posted a death threat on
YouTube in response to the group's opposition to the mosque's construction. The party claimed the planned mosque was an "unwanted landmark", stating its belief that the construction would "undermine community cohesion". A petition on the official
Downing Street website to prevent the mosque's construction gained more than 255,000 signatures, claiming that the mosque would "cause terrible violence".
Targeting of Stella Creasy In November 2019, during the general election campaign, it was reported that CPA would focus on opposing
Stella Creasy in her
Walthamstow constituency. Creasy had that summer led successful attempts to decriminalise abortion in Northern Ireland. The CPA campaign followed another in October that year by the
Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, an
anti-abortion group. The CBR campaign led to police passing a file to the
Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether it constituted harassment. The CPA came last with 0.5% of the vote. == Organisation ==