God's Country

Part Sixty-Three

'So there was great joy in Jerusalem: for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem.'

2 Chronicles 30:26

"David...I really do think I ought to tell you that I have found myself some alternative accommodation, with immediate effect." Charles said, shaking hands with the man who had changed his life. It was just after four o'clock in the morning and according to the BBC the Christian Democratic Party had a confirmed majority of one. Harrington could not reply. He had tears streaming down his face. Forbes sat in an armchair, the closest to the television screen, slightly drunk but still using his iPad furiously as he tried to predict the final score more accurately. He kept entering numbers and smiling ever more foolishly. They had all gone to the town hall to hear Charles returned as the local MP just after one in the morning and after thanking all his supporters and making his acceptance speech, Buckingham had rushed back to watch the results coming in. They had witnessed a landslide.

"Should be a hundred or more," Forbes told them, his voice slightly slurred, reaching for more champagne. "The BBC is saying more..."

"So ten years, unless we really mess it up...ten years, maybe even fifteen if we are lucky with the results in the future." Charles sighed, collapsing back onto the sofa with a big grin on his face.

"It is unbelievable." David Harrington suggested, staring at the screen again, as if it might all be some sort of mistake.

"It's a mandate." Charles said quietly. He was still annoyed about the Cartwright incident but the simple fact was that no one else thought that it had made much difference. Labour had fought extremely hard, in the dirtiest campaign most people could remember, but they did not actually have any workable alternatives that the electorate had not heard a thousand times before. The people had voted for policies many people had always advocated, but no one in Westminster had been prepared to give them. Several talking heads on the BBC election night special had suggested that the CDP were pandering to the whims of the masses. It was the typical arrogance of the political classes. We know best, so it does not matter what the electorate actually think. Buckingham did not agree with the pandering analysis at all of course. Certainly there were a few elements of the manifesto that struck loud chords with the electorate, but only because they were commonsense. Lots of comments were passing along the bottom of the screen, Twitter and text comments from voters, real people, and they were all saying the same sort of things. Popular policies, clearly explained and justified, and honest approaches to the future. People were saying that they found the CDP refreshingly open and honest, and prepared to think the unthinkable.

"Cartwright will be the opposition next time," Forbes suggested, refilling his glass. "So bank on five years. He will mount a much more serious challenge. I am not saying we can't beat him, but a new entity will be much harder to eclipse. And we will be a known entity by then, so it will be a different battle."

"Charles, you should get some sleep." Harrington said, trying to focus. "I think you might be taking a drive to the palace later on today...and Alistair, let's not spend too much time worrying about five years time, shall we? Not tonight, please."

"Not today perhaps David, but we must never forget we have to win again in five years time." Forbes warned, although for once he was fairly sure that his tired colleagues were not listening to him anymore. Perhaps it was a moment to rejoice. But Forbes was not one to stop thinking of the future.

'For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.'

Ephesians 2:10

Michael Winstanley was alone. He had not left his study all night, dozing a little in his chair but watching the numbers come in, one by one. He prayed a lot, thanking God for his trust and for his guidance. His faith was genuine. He believed that God had chosen him to pull the country back from the precipice. He did not expect to convert everyone. He was not that naive, and God did not require him to do so. Religion had been too marginalised in the public consciousness. But the basic values of the faith, the basic tenets of Christianity, were universal, and he believed that if a government was strong enough it could set guidelines to lead the people back to the path of righteousness. It had taken a long time to get everything into place. But he had never imagined that once they started the project proper, to reach out from Meadvale, God would clear the path quite so quickly.