ABSTRACT
Introduction Britain has a long history of politicians competing with one another to appropriate the Christian message for their own parties. In this context it was reported that William Hague, the Conservative opposition leader, would ‘woo Christian voters lost to Tony Blair’s brand of socialism’ (Daily Telegraph, 24 August 1998). This speech to the Conservative Christian Fellowship was to be delivered eighteen months after the Party’s disastrous defeat at the 1997 General Election. Conversely, Mr Blair had explained that it was his active Christianity that led him to reject Conservatism in favour of Labour (Guardian, 16 November 1998). Indeed, similar to the previous Labour leader, the late John Smith, Mr Blair is fond of emphasising his commitment to Christian Socialism, and yet any sneering doubts are directed at his socialism, not his Christianity. However, there is an ambivalence between the public and private manifestations of Mr Blair’s faith, and this is clearly evident in an interview Mr Blair gave to Michael Cockerell for a BBC documentary which marked his first 1,000 days in office.
