The inadequate framework and low state of current British politics and the current declining influence of the British Methodist Church are both considered. The case for recognition of local politics and the importance of local newspapers to uphold and strengthen democracy with the support of local churches is advanced.

1. Methodist Political Influence in
Localities
Barry Jones
Methodist Honorary Research Fellow
Visiting Scholar Sarum College, Salisbury
Active Methodist Local Preacher, SW Worcestershire
Emeritus Professor of Manufacturing Metrology
Brunel University London
Director and Trustee of the Mercian Educational Trust( a MAT based in Malvern, Worcestershire)
Editor of bi-monthly Community Newspaper published by local Methodist Church, late 1960s
Labour Party Parliamentary Candidate for Altrincham & Sale Constituency at the 1970 General
Election
Labour Party Candidate for Trafford Council, May 1973
Email: barryedwardjones@hotmail.com
Website: bedwardjones.com
Methodism and Politics Conference, Wesley House, Cambridge, Friday 22nd June 2018
Copyright to author,2018

2. Problems with Modern British Politics
 This is not surprising because politics is about the nature of our
responsibility to one another. It is about values, policy priorities,
power and “art-of-the-possible”. And politics is the only means
to shape a fairer world.
 Therefore the Bible and the Quran contain a good deal of
politics.
 Today in Britain it requires political parties to regularly present
choices and contest democratic elections in local areas. But it is
based on “first past the post” with a party-controlled form of
representative democracy. So most of the time MPs/councillors
give priority to the Party. As a consequence British politics is
tightly controlled largely by two main parties and has become
for far too many politicians a long “safe career” with little real
accountability.

3.  National & Local governments have declined in
authority, and Parliament is weakened. The
single nation state on its own is not able to cope
with ever expanding techno-financial
globalisation. New global governance structures
and local citizenships are required.
 Unfortunately the present attitudes of a majority
of British people are against solutions. We live in
a post-authority culture. Without authority and
nominally with “everyone in charge”, there is
poor leadership or little responsibility taken.
 Diverse backgrounds and experience-of-life are
not well represented at national level politics.
People strongly distrust most politicians and
many donot seem to even trust themselves.

4.  There is massive “political fracture/disunity” in
the UK nation state, and likely to get much
worse as the effects of relatively low
productivity and low growth continue to impact,
as a more “inward-looking island loneliness”
creeps-in, as an ageing society increasingly fails
to meet expectations of the young, the working
population and the old, and as inequality
continues its upward trend.
 Invisible algorithms are creating new sources of
power and injustice.

5. Political Language
 Language and speech can carry formative impulses.
 Words can make and remake world views.
 Words can win a crowd.
 Can theological justification engage people in
collective action? It can reveal ground beneath
politics, by saying something about life and truth
and meaning.
 How can we show government is a solution when
so many people have lost faith in government?
 How can truth and considered-responses survive in
a world of 24/7 global media, “fake” news and
social media?

6. Local Newspapers
 A force for good and democracy.
 Independent reporting/investigating important for
accountability of MPs, councillors,
education/health/social/police services/planning/local
government/emergency services,etc. Taxpayer-funded
“house papers” generally cannot be trusted.
 Support local shops, trades-people and busineses.
 Distribute news about community/church groups.
 Provide an accessible free-speech forum in each locality.
 Social media no substitute for good local “in-depth”
investigative journalism.
 National press dependent on local press.
 Local newspapers underpin and reflect local
communities.

7. Local Letter-Writing
 The growing numbers of older people do read
local newspapers (many free) and they do vote.
 For MPs local papers are therefore critical to
their constituencies and persona.
 Good/bad local publicity is carefully noted.
 A quality “political” letter in the local paper will
be read by the MP and maybe 20,000 or more
people and will “cut some ice”. This will have
much more impact than a petition visit to the
constituency office or a letter to the MP.

8.  Such letters can reduce the number of letters
published by opponents and help to set a tone
for the newspaper. Generally I write
“uncomfortable” letters about the needs of
vulnerable people in the locality.
 Most of my letters on substantive matters do
now get published by the editors of two local
newspapers….in-between letters on “wheelie-
bins” and “dogs’ dirt”!

11. Future Prospects for Local
Newspapers
 Number in UK falling drastically: now about 1500,
over 200 closed since 2005, 70 closed in 2017 alone.
 Local journalism reducing---eg number of journalists
working on local papers at least halved to 6,500
since 2005. The revenue also halved.
 2018 Government review into these newspaper
problems which are seen as a serious threat to
British community life, accountability and
democracy itself.

12. Online Petition Campaigns
 The “38 Degrees” company provides online
platforms for petition campaigns, both national and
local under the slogan “people, power, change”.
 The petitions must be non-party political and relate
to issues that promote democracy, peace, human
rights, equality and sustainability.
 Local petition campaign groups can be set-up.
 Individuals can start a petition at any time at no
cost.
 38 Degrees provide support on how to write a
petition, and will target it to MPs and Government
ministers. home.38degrees.org.uk

13. Methodism’s Culture
 Methodism was a conservative and stabilizing force in
English society during the Industrial Revolution, perfect
for industrial capitalism.
 It imbued the elite of the working class and the hard-
working and capable bourgeois religious liberty, order
and stability in society.
 British Methodism is now in rapid decline as a
membership church to about 1 person in every 700 of the
population in ten years time, but numbers are not
everything if faith and community influence are strongly
focused.
 British Methodism now urgently needs to “break-out” of
its current “carry-on-as-before” culture. There is a very
serious cleric/lay leadership problem.

14. Lansdowne Debates 2014-18
 Legitimate authority is constituted by knowledge,
experience and conduct. Methodist churches should
support such authority in their localities to encourage
community leadership for coherent lasting change for
the common good.
 As part of a public engagement programme during the
period 2014-2018 Lansdowne Crescent Methodist
Church, Malvern, Worcestershire has organised and
run eight public question-time debates/discussions on
“hot topics” of relevance to local and national life, and
particularly concerned with the “political” issues and
the needs of vulnerable groups.

15.  So far over 40 local “experts” have been on the church
debate platform. Public audience numbers have varied
from 50 to 120 (many non-church). The debates have
received wide publicity and reports in the local
newspapers. The church now has a high profile in the
town for social justice issues and this is acknowledged
by the local MP, local councils and the official services.
 A panel of four leaders in the subject under debate
each address for 5 minutes the question for the
evening and then the panel engages with the audience
questions during a 50 minute session. The
chairpersons are independent.

16.  Members of the public send letters to the local
newspapers as follow-up from the debates.
Most of these will have been uncomfortable
reading for the local MP (and Government
Minister).
 Questions posed for the debates have ranged
widely: food banks, affordable accommodation,
NHS healthcare services, mental health services,
safety and police services, school budget cuts,
UK migration, and of course the Brexit debate!
Inter-generational imbalance and possible new
taxes are debates that are in planning.

18. Conclusions
 British politics is now very dysfunctional.
 There is a real opportunity for Methodists to
stand-up to vested interests of the market and
the state in their negative outcomes for the
vulnerable, the environment and peace, and
support good citizenship in localities.
 Methodists should strongly support and use local
newspapers for church-activity promotion and
for opinions/views, particulaly advancing justice
and compassion for vulnerable people.

19.  Churches should support letter-writing training
courses.
 Methodist churches should run local regular
public debates/discussions in a question-time
format and particularly on “hot-topic”
questions that concern vulnerable people.
 Methodists should be regularly active with
online petition campaigns .
 Methodist churches should empower the
vulnerable through support of community
organising initiatives.
 Turn protest into influence and “make stuff
happen”.

20. References
1. David N Hempton, “Methodism and Politics in British Society 1750-1850 ”, Routledge
2010 edn.
2. Andrew Chandler(ed), “British Methodism Between Clericalisation and Secularisation
1932-99(2000)”, Chapter 13 in “Evangelisation, Piety and Politics: The Selected Writings of
W R Ward”, Routledge 2014.
3. Manuel Arriaga, “Rebooting Democracy: A Citizen’s Guide to Reinventing Politics “,
Thistle Publishing 2014.
4. Duncan B Forrester, “Christian Justice and Public Policy”, Cambridge University Press
1997.
5. Barry E Jones, “A Malvern Vista: Creation, Wealth and Poverty”, the Civic-Week Lecture
in Malvern, 7th June 2012 (available at website: bedwardjones.com ).
6. Barry E Jones, “ Weslyan Science or Weslyan Engineering? ”, Paper presented at meeting
of the SW Regional Theology Forum of the Methodist Church, Sarum College, Salisbury, 19th
October 2017.
7. Barry E Jones, “ Science & Religion: Ugly Sisters in a Suffering World? ”, course notes of
special one-day course presented at Sarum College, Salisbury 24th March 2018.
8. Barry E Jones, “Creation, Justice, Compassion and Love: a 21st Century Methodist
Quadrilateral“ , paper presented at 3rd Annual Methodist Research Conference,
Manchester, 19th April 2018.
9. Elaine Graham and Stephen Lowe, “What Makes a Good City—Public Theology and the
Urban Church”, Darton, Longman and Todd 2009.
10. Nick Spencer,” The Political Samaritan: How Power Hijacked a Parable”, Bloomsbury
2017.
11. Matthew Bolton, “How To Resist: Turn Protest to Power”, Bloomsbury 2017.