Christian Party flashes cash

Until recently Hackney's billboards were Conservative Party territory. But below is a giant poster on Lower Clapton Road proclaiming Hackney South's Christian Party candidate, John Williams. According to the BBC the Christian Party launched its poster campaign three days ago.





This story mentions that the Christian Party raised over £100,000 in 2010 - small fry compared to many other parties. However it seems to have been attracting cash from all quarters. "Hackney Christians: Money, power, demonic possession"

Rev George Hargreaves, the founder of the Hackney-based Christian Party, has caused controversy with his campaign in a Barking and Dagenham campaign, while his wife, Maxine, is taking on Diane Abbott in Hackney North: God on her side

Other news:

If you haven't seen it yet, take a look at Hackney Citizen's story on Hackney Council saying there is no Conservative Mayoral Candidate.

God on her side?

Back in February Blood and Property posted a story called "Brain cancer will not halt Christian bid for Diane's seat". It came from the Scotsman which reported that the Reverend George Hargreaves - the leader of the Hackney-based Christian Party - had pulled out of an election because his wife, Maxine, had fallen ill with cancer.

The paper said that Maxine Hargreaves had already recovered once from the disease and had undergone brain surgery in 2007. It also said that she still aimed to take on Diane Abbott in Hackney South and Shoreditch.

Yesterday her candidacy for Hackney North and Stoke Newington was announced.

How serious a threat does she pose? In February Diane Abbott told Blood and Property: "A large proportion of my constituents go to church so understanding religion is important to me. Huge amounts of money are being poured into the Christian Party here in Hackney, as your blog has pointed out. This seems to suggest religion may be on the agenda of politicians in the future but it will only really make a difference if candidates can win the support of people outside of their churches as well as within them."

The Christian Party now has the backing of some rich and powerful figures: Hackney Christians: money, power, demonic possession.

It also came 7th in the 2009 European elections, behind the BNP, in the London Region winning 51,336 votes (2.9%). (These figures are from Wikipedia which is worth a look for an interesting set of policies ranging from music copyright law to "discouragement of the practice of addressing women as Ms")

The success of the party, or the damage it could inflict on Labour in Hackney, will depend on how large the borough's fundamentalist Christian population is. Many of these could come from the African community which Hargreaves has been targeting, at home and abroad: Hackney Christian politician in BNP 'mistake'

However Hargreaves and his party are not well regarded in some quarters. On April 2nd the Guardian described Rev Hargreaves as "The black man who could help the BNP win Barking"

On Tuesday April 20th, the BBC published a piece called "Will Christians swing the 2010 election?" It concentrated on marginals and quoted Rev Hargreaves saying his party could have a "king-maker" role in some constituencies.

The Christian Party was started by Rev Hargreaves in 2004 and took on its current name at the end of 2005 (according to Wikipedia) so it has not stood candidates in a General Election before.

The party is also fielding a candidate in Hackney South and Shoreditch and in the borough's Mayoral elections.

Brain cancer will not halt Christian bid for Diane's seat

According to the Scotsman, Rev George Hargreaves has pulled out of the General Election contest in the Western Isles because his wife has brain cancer.

But, despite having the disease (she recovered from brain surgery in 2007), Maxine Hargreaves is still hoping to be well enough to take on Diane Abbott in Hackney South and Shoreditch.

Hargreaves told the Scotsman: "Family comes before politics and I have decided to withdraw my candidacy... My wife's cancer has not rocked my faith in God. She is not scared to die – we know there is an eternal place for us."

Hackney Christians - money, power, demonic possession

The last two issues of Private Eye have noted high profile "squillionaires" backing the Dalston-based Christian Party. One is hedge fund manager Crispin Odey who paid himself £28m in 2008. He gave Reverend George Hargreaves' Christian Party £25,000.

The other is Sir Paul Judge - former Director General of the Conservative Party who now sits on the boards of several large companies - who has teamed up with the Christian Party to form the Popular Alliance

But pop producer turned politician Hargreaves, and his party, don't seem to be short of cash -

His Hackney-based operations seem to attract support: Between them, East London Christian Choir School and the Hephzibah Christian Centre on Beechwood Road showed £493,229 revenue in 2007 - the last time they were audited - (Accounts Hephizbah Christian Centre) - £310,000 of this was in donations received.

Back in 2004, the Daily Mail reported: "The song (So Macho) reached number two in 1985, sold over a million copies and still generates around £10,000 a month for the man who wrote it, the Rev George Hargreaves, a songwriter and promoter turned Christian."

Hargreaves' response to an atheist campaign of bus posters saying "There is no god" was a counter campaign of bus posters saying "There is a god" which couldn't have been cheap.

But does he have local support in Hackney? For example the Hackney and Walthamstow - based KICC - which apparently made £4.9m in 2008 and has a 12,000-strong congregation - Or Guardian version (2009) - Richer than St Pauls with headquarters in Waterden Road, Hackney. It's leader, Matthew Ashimolowo, seems to have supported another of Hargreaves' operations the CPA? (Christian People's Alliance).

And Hargreaves' views certainly set him apart from the majority of the borough's political figures who tend to be skeptical of religion - (Does your councillor believe in ghosts?)

A clash with Diane Abbott could be interesting. Her reaction to media hype about child exorcism and ritual murder was: Ban these witchcraft churches (not the original) she said: "Multiculturalism is one thing, but I draw the line at being asked to respect the views of people who believe in demonic possession." She said that "fringe churches", specifically African ones, were "a serious problem" in some London Boroughs - most notably Hackney.

I don't know how serious he was when he said it, but Hargreaves' seems to think the whole of Wales is cursed by Satan: According to the Western Mail, Hargreaves said: "Wales is the only country in history to have a red dragon on its national flag. This is the very symbol of the devil described in The Book of Revelation 12:3. This is nothing less than the sign of Satan, the devil, Lucifer that ancient serpent who deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. No other nation has had this red dragon as its ruling symbol. Wales has been under demonic oppression and under many curses because of this unwise choice."

The Christian Party has yet to reply to an email asking whether it has any plans to battle for the soul of Hackney.

Psychology professor interprets Hackney politicians...

Do Hackney politicians believe in ghosts?

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Is the supernatural significant?

The Christian Party was last mentioned in Blood and Property when its founder, Reverend George Hargreaves, was (unfairly) accused of vote harvesting in Nigeria - by what appeared to be a BNP blogger. Hackney Christian politician in BNP 'mistake'.

Should UK politicians seek support from abroad?

The previous post mentions George Galloway's trip to Bangladesh before the 2005 General Election.

The reference was made in connection with Hackney-based fundamentalist Christian Reverend George Hargreaves being criticised by the BNP for apparently seeking support for his party in Nigeria.

Whether or not this is something that UK politicians should or shouldn't do, I don't know. But may be it is an aspect of politics that should be more closely monitored - particularly in boroughs with strong links to areas outside the UK.

Galloway beat Oona King by a margin of just 823 votes and the majority of his support came from the Muslim Bangladeshi community which makes up more than 40 per cent of population of his Bethnal Green and Bow constituents.

As such it is likely that his two week trip to Bangladesh played an important part in his victory.

In a speech made at one village on 7 March 2005, Galloway said: "I'm going to be a champion of Bangladesh in London... I will be a champion of Bangladesh in the world. I will fight so Bangladesh receives justice."

He also said: "I'm asking you, my brothers, to telephone every relative and friend in East London, to write them a letter, to send a message, tell them what you heard here... You can strike a blow for dignity when the General Election comes."

When he got back from Bangladesh Galloway was asked: "Do you still intend to become a "Champion of Bangladesh" if you are elected in Bethnal Green and Bow? How do you think that being a "Champion of Bangladesh" will benefit people in Bethnal Green and Bow?

His reply was: "Taking a few words out of the context of thousands I delivered, publicly and privately on a recent visit to Bangladesh, inevitably leads to misrepresentation. My job is not to represent any foreign country or its interests in parliament, nor, of course, would I do so.

"But I do intend to become a champion for all of the people of Bethnal Green and Bow, whatever their race, religion or ethnic origin."

Whether or not the people back in Bangladesh would ever have known that these words were out of context is hard to say. Meanwhile the majority of his constituents back in Tower Hamlets had no idea that he had said the words at all.

As far as I can tell Galloway has stuck to his word and not become a champion of Bangladesh since winning his seat and I don't know if he has been back to the country since. Meanwhile his attention remains focused on the middle east.

However Bangladesh could do with a champion. I'm not sure how accurate or useful this is, but it seems that Bangladesh has more people living in it than the combined global population of Palestinians (c.10m, although 80% of those in Gaza Strip below the poverty line) the entire population of Iraq (31m - now with around 30 per cent living below the poverty line) and the UK population of around 60m (14% below the poverty line in 2003). Add them all up to 100m and may be about 30-40 per cent live below the poverty line.

Meanwhile Bangladesh has a population of 153m with 45 per cent living below the poverty line.

However the reasons why Galloway doesn't spend much time on Bangladesh is that, if he did address human rights abuses or corruption... or anything else, he would lose the support of one faction or other within the Bangladeshi community.

The issue received some attention back in 2005 but not much. This is an extract from an angry piece published in April 2005 by a member of the Socialist Workers Party (which later split from Respect). The piece mentions some of the problems associated with Galloway's trip. Here is an excerpt: "Despite being asked to respond to these instances (of human rights abuses) Galloway has maintained a diplomatic silence. Could it be, as suggested by Private Eye, that Galloway has compromised himself in his ambition to get elected, being aware that “most Bangladeshis in London, whose votes Respect is seeking, support either the Awami League or the Bangladesh National Party, the two groups back home most closely implicated in such abuses” (Private Eye April 1-14)?

"Either way, it is clearly untenable for comrades in the SWP to maintain a silence on such issues. Votes from the Bengali community must be won on a principled basis, not through courting reactionary “politicians and businessmen”

In case you're wondering, I'm not a member of the SWP or the BNP (Bangladesh or British).

Hackney christian politician in BNP 'mistake'?

The Reverend George Hargreaves has been attracting the attention of a more sinister crowd than the usual outraged atheists and liberals. (His entry in Wikipedia tells you what you need to know about him - the creator of gay anthem So Macho turned anti-gay Christian fundamentalist based in Hackney.)

Hargreaves' bizarre views are no secret and yet the far right seems to have resorted to fiction to demonise him.

On 3 May this story was posted on the Telegraph website blog: Eu Madness: Nigerians, with Nigerian Passports, Living in Nigeria, Can Vote in British EU Elections by Proxy.

The story claimed that Hargreaves was calling for Nigerians to vote in UK elections.

One reader left a short comment pointing out that the original story - printed in the Nigeria-based Daily Independent - was actually talking about Nigerians with British passports who, like any other British citizen, can vote in British Elections.

It looked like a mistake but exactly the same story, 'mistake' and all, had appeared on the BNP's website a day earlier on 2 May. Here BNP readers had left 103 comments. The BNP site provided a link to the original story in the Nigeria-based newspaper, which the Telegraph blog had not, until one was provided by blogger Peter Barnett.

Some people might wonder why Hargreaves feels the need to campaign for his party in Nigeria but he's certainly not the first to have looked beyond the borders for support. For a start there's George Galloway who campaigned in Bangladesh in 2005. He visited villages with links to Tower Hamlets. After mentioning that he was keen on an amnesty for illegal immigrants in the UK (not necessarily a bad idea) he (possibly a bit cynically) called on his audiences to write, fax and phone their relatives in Tower Hamlets - but more on that another time.

Hargreaves' brush with the BNP was only the latest in a long line of stunts - his other recent escapade apparently involves a poster campaign saying "Murder is not a joke. Sack Alan Duncan" following some comments made by the MP on Have I Got News For You. His last poster campaign 'There Definitely Is A God" was in response to an atheist poster campaign saying "There is no God".

For those who like to leave the nutters to do battle on the fringes of politics, there may be no cause for further alarm.

But a quick google search delivers a Hackney Council scrutiny panel investigation on gun crime in 2004. This says: "The Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel would also like to encourage the continuance of contact and discussions between the Council’s Community Partnership team and Reverend George Hargreaves(CANDLE Project) in order to establish clarity relating to the development of his proposed Barnardos led multi-agency response to social deprivation."

Whatever progress was made with this interesting sounding project, no further mention could be found. But the Reverend George Hargreaves' ties to the establishment were highlighted again in 2007 in a piece called: "Half of all young people arrested are revealed to have smoked cannabis":

"Mr Hargreaves, who is the pastor of the Hephzibah Christian Centre in Hackney and sits on two Metropolitan Police committees, said: 'We are talking about a brand of cannabis that sends young people schizophrenic."

And for something lighter, here's a story from the Times about how multiculturalism isn't working in London with a passing reference to Hackney: "I realise now I was confusing coexistence with integration. Looking back, not only were my eight years there marked by a retrospectively bewildering number of terrifying incidents, such as the two times I was mugged on my doorstep, the one time a potential flatmate was mugged on the way to inspect my flat, the several times police officers suggested I move out (“If you saw what I see, you'd get out”), the one time I went to throw away rubbish and discovered a vagrant copulating with a local prostitute in the refuse area, the bombing, the mini-riot, the numerous anti-terrorism raids, the stabbings, kneecappings and murders, but also a complete failure to make friends with any local residents."