Councillor, The Reverend Sean Blackman
Reverend Blackman is a Conservative Councillor for the Privett ward in Gosport.
I have been very supportive of the idea of other Christians getting involved in politics. It seemed to me important we have Christians in Parliament who promote Christians values and Christian viewpoint as well as them being people of quality and of integrity.
What I did not expect was that ‘other’ Christians might include me. At a Church Leaders Day Conference in Lancing I found myself moved by the Mayor of Worthing who challenged me about getting personally involved. Although my wife and I shared an interest in politics and had fulfilled our responsibility as constituents to vote at national and local elections, neither of us were members of a political party.
After considering the vision and values of the different parties, we decided to become members of the local Gosport Conservative Party and play an active role. So we went to annual dinners, delivered leaders and helped out where we were needed. Then on one occasion, I was asked whether I would like to be considered as an applicant for the Borough Council as a prospective Councillor and I said I would be interested in having a chat.
Within a matter of days, I received a letter from the local chairman and finally agreed to become a candidate for a ward in the Gosport Borough Council. I campaigned actively and had an opportunity to engage with residents, listen to their concerns and was duly elected as a Conservative Councillor with 63% of the vote.
I was inspired by Andy Flannagan of Christians in Politics, and his conviction that those who turn up are the ones who make a difference and found myself fleshing this out as a I built bridges across the parties in the Council and addressing needs within the community who had been neglected because of division.