Cat Smith MP - Christianity

Cat Smith MP

MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood

Born to a Methodist mother I was raised attending the Sunday School in my local church, I feel blessed to have been brought up in my Christian faith and it’s been an anchor throughout my life.

It was my involvement in a youth fellowship group and the national Methodist youth networks that I first got political – campaigning for Fair Trade and against unfair global debt. It was only much later that I joined the Labour Party. My first job in politics was working at the Christian Socialist Movement (now known as Christians on the Left) which combined my faith with a growing interest in politics. Christian Socialism was one of the founding threads of the British Labour Party.

In the 2019 General Election at a local hustings all candidates were asked if we had a faith and how it affected our politics if we did. It was a great opportunity to explain how my faith grounds my values and therefore underpins my politics. Whilst I don’t take any political lines from my church, and they make no attempt to do this, the fellowship, prayers and support they offer me when politics can be hard going are a real help and comfort.

Through the Gospels (the first four books of the New Testament) we have accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus. Many of these accounts see Jesus identify with the hungry, the sick and the poor, with Jesus saying “Blessed are the poor for theirs in the kingdom of heaven” which many believe is a calling to speak up for the poor and against poverty. It is through teachings like this that I have fought for social justice as a major strand of my politics as a Member of Parliament.