Easter Edition: is politics becoming more religious? With Tom Holland & Jonathan Sumption
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.3 • 826 Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2026
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Is British politics becoming more religious? Madeline Grant certainly thinks so, arguing – in the Spectator’s cover article – that the next election could be the most religious for decades. Issues like immigration and Islam, assisted dying – and even the establishment of the Church of England are likely to play a role. The current Labour government's ‘most telling divide’, Madeline writes, is between MPs – like Shabana Mahmood and Wes Streeting – who understand religion – and 'those who don’t’.
For the Edition’s Easter special, host Lara Prendergast is joined by vicar – and Madeline’s husband – The Rev’d Fergus Butler-Gallie, former Supreme Court justice Jonathan Sumption and the historian and broadcaster Tom Holland.
They discuss why faith might be re-emerging as a live political issue: from searching for meaning in modern life, to a reaction against an ‘anaemic form of post-Christianity’ that has dominated since the 1960s. They also ponder whether the public has always sought out authority, and a moral code, and if the current, insurgent political parties – the Greens and Reform – have understood this, embracing a ‘moral energy’ which has proven attractive to a large portion of the electorate.
Plus: is having Anglican Bishops in the House of Lords ‘an anomaly’? Why is the Church of England 'the canary in the coal mine’? And was the late Queen the 'most effective proselytiser’ for Christianity in Britain since the Georgians?
Produced by Patrick Gibbons. Wishing all our listeners a very Happy Easter.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The British right is up for grabs. As May's local elections approach, the Conservatives face strong competition from Reform UK. |
| 0:07.9 | Join the Spectator's assistant editor, Isabel Hardman, for the spectator debate, the fight for the right, on Wednesday, the 29th of April in London. |
| 0:15.5 | We will pit the Conservatives represented by Matthew Saeed and Dominic Johnson against Reform UK, represented by Matt Goodwin |
| 0:22.0 | and Danny Kruger. To see which party truly represents the future of the right, book your tickets at |
| 0:28.1 | spectator.com forward slash fight. |
| 0:36.0 | Hello and welcome to the edition from The Spectator. |
| 0:39.9 | I'm Laura Prendergast, The Spectator's executive editor, |
| 0:43.3 | and the latest issue of the magazine has just gone to press. |
| 0:47.3 | To discuss what's in it, I'm joined now by the Anglican priest, |
| 0:50.5 | the Reverend Fergus Butler Galley, |
| 0:52.6 | the former Supreme Court Justice Jonathan Sumpion, |
| 0:55.6 | and the historian and broadcaster Tom Holland. |
| 1:03.1 | This week is our Easter special and we have a beautiful cover designed by J.G. Fox, which shows |
| 1:08.8 | King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales looking on at |
| 1:12.6 | the newly enthroned Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Malawi. So Fergus, I thought I'd go to you |
| 1:17.8 | first and ask for your thoughts on the actual image itself. Well, it's drawing on the sort of illustrated |
| 1:23.6 | gospel books of the medieval and pre-medieval period. The book of Kells, the |
| 1:29.3 | Lindisfarm Gospels are the famous examples from the British Isles. And you can see it's sort of |
| 1:34.3 | inspired by that. You've got the four animals depicting the four, the four creatures, rather, |
| 1:39.3 | depicting the four gospels of Matthew Mark, Luke and John. We've even got some plain chant down |
| 1:44.1 | the bottom, |
| 1:44.5 | which I won't attempt to sing, because your listeners won't enjoy that. But, you know, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Spectator, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Spectator and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.