The Northern King Invades the South

To misapply the prophet Daniel, the King of the North has made his first strike against the King of the South, and now seeks to conquer his empire.

The Northern King, Andy Burnham, or ‘Our Andy’ as certain Mancunians are wont call him, won a Manchester by-election last week which will see him enter the House of Commons. He is then likely to launch a leadership challenge against the Prime Minister in Whitehall, assuming Sir Keir does not simply bow to pressure and quit anyway. While the latter lacks charisma and even competence, Burnham has slightly higher doses of both, though he has the habit of wearing a black t-shirt under a suit jacket, giving the impression of being a 1990s nightclub owner, or, worse, a middle-aged man trying to look like he is still 25. Let’s hope he smartens up if he is to lead His Majesty’s Government.

Once in power, he will likely change the cabinet (which from a Christian perspective might be helpful) though the people he brings in may be equally unsympathetic to Christian morality (which may prove unhelpful). More interestingly, he could call a general election to obtain his own five-year mandate rather than living off the back of Sir Keir’s. There is no requirement for him to do so; our PMs are not presidents. We do not vote for them directly, and the office falls on the one who can command a Commons majority. Nevertheless, he may not win that election, though he has shown in Makerfield that he can deflect Reform’s onward march, even if he did so by relying on Greens’ and Liberal Democrats’ tactical votes.

So why write about this, apart from my own interest in politics? Why publish it on the Lord’s Day, when the carnal affairs of this world are best forgotten or laid aside? It is good to remind ourselves that, no matter what goes on in the chambers of Westminster and the grand offices of Whitehall, whoever runs the government and whenever an election is called, that there is still one who securely sits on the throne, one who cannot be moved. I refer not to his Britannic Majesty, of course, whose own days are numbered and whose heir is already practising the ropes, but the Greater King who sits in the heavens. He reigns and rules, for no-one is able to supplant Him or replace Him; His will, though currently defied and ignored, will ultimately come to pass, with or without the support of Lords and Commons assembled. Remember this when the dreary affairs of this world get you down, or the circumstances of life whisper that you have been left alone and deserted. Far from it. The throne is still occupied, and the Occupant's vast wisdom is mingled richly with love divine.

The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. Psalm 11:4

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