Does Keir Starmer’s atheism matter?

Good Friday, 2021, at Jesus House For All Nations church in Brent, north-west London. Face masked, head bowed, hands clasped, Sir Keir Starmer stands alongside Pastor Agu Irukwu. The pastor opens his arms to invoke Almighty God. We hear Starmer in voiceover: ‘From rolling out the vaccine to running the local food bank, Jesus House, like many other churches across the UK, has played a crucial role in meeting the needs of the community.’ A nice video tribute for Easter, this. Good to see churches getting some recognition. A sign, perhaps, of the inclusive national unity a Labour government would foster. 

By Easter Monday, Starmer has apologised, deleted the video and more or less vowed never again to darken the door of Pastor Irukwu, who, it has emerged, is an opponent of same-sex marriage. Whoops. Sorry. Didn’t realise it was that kind of church.

‘It was a mistake,’ Starmer declares, ‘and I accept that.’ Given that Boris Johnson, Theresa May and the then Prince Charles had also been criticised for visiting Jesus House, you wonder how nobody had checked in advance. Given that none of the others had felt the need to apologise, you wonder what a Prime Minister Starmer would mean for religious believers.

Although Starmer would be the first openly atheist PM – belief in God appears to be about the only view he has never held – that is less noteworthy than it sounds. Ramsay MacDonald was probably an atheist in all but name. Clement Attlee gave the characteristically terse verdict: ‘Believe in the ethics of Christianity. Can’t believe in the mumbo-jumbo.’ Liz Truss affirmed only ‘the values of the Christian faith’.

True, most PMs since Margaret Thatcher have had a religious streak, and two – Gordon Brown and May – were the children of clergymen.