Christian members of the left-wing Liberal Democrats feared that their positions in the party could have been at risk after their Anglican colleague was deselected as a parliamentary candidate because of his faith.
On Monday, The European Conservative approached the Liberal Democrats over claims David Campanale is set to be replaced as a prospective MP candidate for Sutton and Cheam after being “hounded out” of the position due to being a Christian. A spokesman insisted the party is “home to people of all faiths and none, including many Christians.”
But it has since emerged that other Christian Lib Dems feared that the interrogation of Campanale over his faith would lead to them being expelled too. One party member, quoted in The Daily Telegraph, said he “wouldn’t be surprised if the night of the long knives included me.”
The newspaper has also revealed that the party’s local officers were warned that there was “the feel of a witch-hunt” against Campanale.
Campanale, who is an award-winning former BBC journalist and long-time Lib Dem activist, is said to have been specifically targeted by his local party and by LGBT activists over his one-time involvement with the anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage Christian People’s Alliance, despite having later distanced himself from the political party.
Lib Dem figures are now pushing for the equalities watchdog to launch an investigation into “multiple alleged breaches of equality law and our party constitution.”
The Liberal Democrat Christian Forum told the watchdog on Monday:
After over 80 documented alerts from 2022 up until now, it has become sadly clear to us that our own party has resolved not to act and is not taking these complaints ‘very seriously.’
If the opposition to Mr. Campanale’s candidacy had been based on any other protected characteristic, we believe the party would have taken a zero-tolerance approach.
Former Liberal Democrat MP Lord Alton, who is now an independent member of the House of Lords, said that Campanale’s treatment by the party had been “neither liberal nor democratic.” He has also suggested that the party’s actions have breached Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads:
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
The Lib Dems have been unwilling to comment any further on the case, noting that “the decision over the deselection of David Campanale is currently subject to an appeal at the party’s English Appeals panel.”
