Pray urgently for new PM

It was a sermon, of all things, that triggered the recent leadership election for a new Prime Minister.

At the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, the Revd Les Isaac, who set up Street Pastors, spoke about integrity and the common good. In the audience was the soon-to-be-former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the then Health Secretary, Sajid Javid. In launching his leadership bid, Mr Javid said it was listening to Isaac that convinced him he had to resign, helping trigger the downfall of Boris Johnson. If nothing else, surely, it’s a reminder of the power of preaching!

So, for the second time in just three years, we find ourselves watching a new Prime Minister come into the role. Perhaps some of us will mourn the end of the Johnson premiership, although I suspect many more of us will be relieved. It is more instability for the nation at a time when there are such huge challenges to be grappled with. In communities across the UK, with winter coming, some will be forced to choose between eating or heating. There’s the ongoing war in Europe. There’s huge instability in global markets. China is threatening both Taiwan and Hong Kong. Electricity and gas prices have surged and will continue to do so.