Vote not out of self-interest but focused on the common good: read the CofE bishops' election guidance in full

The Church of England has this week intervened directly for the first time in a general election campaign urging people to consider carefully why they vote. In an pastoral letter to Anglican parishes, the House of Bishops avoids taking sides in the campaign – indeed it roundly condemns the present state of British politics – but it does urge people to vote next May, saying: “Unless we exercise the democratic rights that our ancestors struggled for, we will share responsibility for the failures of the political classes.”

The 52-page letter titled "Who is my neighbour?" urged people to forget self-interest and vote for the common good. “In Britain we have become so used to believing that self-interest drives every decision, that it takes a leap of imagination to argue that there should be stronger institutions for those we disagree with as well as for those ‘on our side’. Breaking free of self-interest and welcoming our opponents as well as our supporters into a messy, noisy, yet rich and creative community of communities is, perhaps, the only way we will enrich our almost-moribund political culture.”

Read the letter here (PDF).