Danny Webster
Danny joined the Evangelical Alliance in 2008 and has held a range of roles in the advocacy team. He currently leads the advocacy team's work across the UK including public policy work an engagement with the parliaments and assemblies, and respective governments. Before working for the Evangelical Alliance, Danny, who has degrees in politics and political philosophy, worked in parliament for an MP. Danny is passionate about encouraging Christians to integrate their faith with all areas of their life, especially when it comes to helping them take on leadership outside the church, and helped initiate the Evangelical Alliance's Public Leadership programme. He frequently provides comment on current political issues, both in Evangelical Alliance publications and to the press.
For the politically homeless this election time
22 November 2019This upheavel is both the result of political realignment, but also the fuel for further realignment. This has been witnessed in parliament as MPs have left their parties, often sparked by concerns over leadership or policies on Brexit, and it has been seen in elections as new parties have burst onto the scene. The sight of neither the Conservatives nor Labour coming first or second in the 2019 European Parliament elections was a clear indication of our current political moment. Recent polling…
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Our ever-present hope
1 November 2019In challenging and uncomfortable times, this should bring comfort because we know that God is not fazed by the circumstances we are facing. We can look to history and remember that the church has navigated far more turbulent times in past. We can look to the church across the world which experiences persecution for their faith. In the three years since the vote in June 2016 to leave the European Union, politics has been dominated by attempts to achieve this and efforts to frustrate it.The…
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Faith, hope and love at the coming General Election
30 October 2019For those of you suffering from whiplash regarding all things Brexit and Westminster, here is a brief reminder of how we got here. Following the government’s revised agreement with the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson failed to get agreement for his expedited timetable for passage of the bill. This was despite agreement for the bill to receive detailed scrutiny by Parliament. Parliament previously refused to give backing for the Brexit agreement in a meaningful vote, so Johnson was obliged to…
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Parliament's Super Saturday: time to pray and offer hope
18 October 2019To use two of the metaphors he has appropriated to describe the final stages of the negotiations with the European Union, the Prime Minister has hailed it as an “excellent deal” but now faces another mountain to climb to get Parliament’s approval for the agreement. The DUP, the Conservative Party’s partners in government since the 2017 election, voted against Theresa May’s deal on all three occasions and have indicated that they remain opposed to the alternative arrangements her successor has…
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Book review: A Better Ambition
9 October 2019Tony Blair’s former spokesman and campaign director can sleep easy knowing that he is no longer invoked with quite the same frequency by those such as I who are passionate about Christians having a voice in politics and bringing God into all things they do. And the reason is because Tim Farron is now the essential reference point. Since his departure as Liberal Democrat leader immediately after the 2017 general election, the treatment and fate of Farron is the case study that must be grappled…
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Walking with wisdom and seasoning our speech
27 September 2019In a week where the words of a court judgment led to parliament resuming operations, one wonders whether it might not have been better for them to stay away a little longer. The three years since the vote to leave the EU have shown the heightened impact of speech on political culture and how that flows into society and community relations. It’s not so much that Brexit has created the hostility and polarisation of views, but that it has become a funnel for people to channel myriad frustrations –…
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Biblical checks and balances
26 September 2019Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn brought forward his speech to the Labour Party conference to return to London for parliament to sit on 25 September with a sparse agenda of prayers and urgent questions and ministerial statements (if any). The 11 justices of the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on 24 September that they had the authority to adjudicate on whether the prorogation of parliament was lawful and found that in this case it was not. The court criticised the government for failing to provide…
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Christian witness in this political moment
21 August 2019There is expected to be a no confidence vote early September, and if this is lost and no alternative government can be formed, the country will once again go to the polls. In the event of an election in the coming months, Christians will be faced with greater than usual challenges in how to engage. It is likely that we’ll see candidates from new political parties gracing the ballot paper. We may also see parties choosing not to stand in some seats to allow other candidates a greater chance of…
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Book review: In Search of the Common Good
20 August 2019This book is broad in its sweep and ambitious in its vision. It is better at analysing the challenges Christians face than telling them what to do to put things right. But, and I think if I’ve read Meador correctly, he isn’t trying to issue a manifesto for achieving the common good; he is, rather, helping Christians as they seek it out. If you can get through the first couple of chapters without becoming thoroughly depressed, you have done well. Meador is unflinching in his critique of much of…
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Crazy golf and the redemption of all things
1 August 2019Rochester Cathedral has attracted both criticism and praise for its decision to install a crazy golf course in its nave. An act of desecration declared one columnist, who also highlighted the helter-skelter at Norwich Cathedral. Journalists ran amok with pun-filled headlines “fairway to heaven”, “more tee vicar?”, and the controversy was somewhat inevitable as they sought to draw people into the church with this summer installation. Whether it’s appropriate for a church building to be used in…
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Government must tackle Christian persecution, says report
8 July 2019The Bishop of Truro’s independent report to the Foreign Secretary highlighted that the persecution of Christians should be considered as a global phenomenon, but one with a wide variety of triggers and drivers. Because of the gradual emergence of this problem and the range of causes, the review found that it has also “been significantly overlooked in the West”. With wide ranging evidence from key non-governmental organisations, including Evangelical Alliance members Open Doors UK, Release…
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