Prayer for MPs as new parliament assembles

139 politicians entered the House of Commons for the first time on Tuesday.

The election broke the record for the number of successful candidates from an ethnic background, up from 52 to 63 and an additional 12 females have been added to the new Parliament, which Boris Johnson as called a “vast improvement” on the one before.

Andy Flannagan, Executive Director of Christians in Politics tells Premier he’s been encouraged to also see a number of Christian representatives within the cabinet.

“We tend to think and imagine as Christians that there’s a glass ceiling, that there’s only so far we’ll ever get, but this election proves that’s not the case,” he added.

He went on to encourage Christians to pray for a new “culture” to be cultivated within Parliament that prioritises reconciliation and unity.

“We need to pray into the culture of this place. Most of the time when you arrive at a club, unless you’re incredibly strongly minded, you just imbibe the culture that’s already there,” he said.

Flannagan says he has been praying with Christian MPs that colleagues would be “keen to reconcile and find partnerships across party lines, keen to make friends, and really try to take a lead decreasing the tribalism that we’ve been suffering from.”

Flannagan added that he has witnessed an “incredibly positive” response to the Church amongst MPs, who he says recognise it to often be…