God in Number 10: The Personal Faith of the Prime Ministers, from Balfour to Blair by Mark Vickers

REVIEWER: Ali Hull

BOOK: God in Number 10: The Personal Faith of the Prime Ministers, from Balfour to Blair

(SPCK, 2022) 512p, hardback, RRP £25 

This book is an attempt to consider the religious faith of nineteen British Prime Ministers, from Arthur Balfour to Tony Blair. Each chapter starts with an account of their educational and political careers, before turning in greater depth to their religious history – their family background in faith (or not); their own observance, what they said, what they wrote and how that faith, if present, affected the decisions they made and the lives they lived. There is no attempt to explain political or religious terms, so you either understand the concept of free trade versus protectionism, for instance, or you don’t, and this could prove off-putting to some. And if you don’t have a pretty good grasp of British history during the period, you may get a bit lost as to the background to each person’s time in office. Inevitably, also, as each chapter focuses on just one individual, their interest varies a lot. Lloyd George, for instance, catches the imagination more than, say, Andrew Bonar Law, and if the chapter’s subject didn’t have much of a faith, often there is not a lot to write about either.

Having said that, though, the book is well-written and definitely worth a read, with an easy style. If you want to jump certain chapters, you won’t lose the thread of the book. The chapters on Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair are both full and interesting, and the author was able to talk to John Major about his faith (the only prime minister he does interview). I would have liked to have had a chapter on Gordon Brown, a ‘son of the manse’; David Cameron and vicar’s daughter Theresa May.

The final chapter is a brief overview of all the prime ministers, with a brief consideration of those who followed on from Blair. The author is a Catholic priest and was, I felt, a little too keen to judge the faith of some of his subjects – I found some of his comments irritating and unnecessary. But overall, I recommend this book. 

Reviewer: Ali Hull
Ali Hull is Book Editor for Preach magazine. Fascinated by politics, she is also a former editor of the Christian Democrat newspaper.