Brexit has demonstrated the importance of voting for the person whom you want to represent you in the House of Commons.

The current situation of a minority Government bound by the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 has highlighted the following issues:

Direct and Representative democracy

Should an MP honour the wishes of the country in a national referendum or their own constituents who voted them into office?

Matters of conscience

Should an MP honour the wishes of the country in a national referendum or should they follow their conscience about what is, in their own opinion, for “the good of the country”?

Party or country?

Should an MP honour the wishes of the country in a national referendum or should they follow the three-line whip by their political party who helped and enabled them to become members of parliament?

Sovereignty and the locus of absolute authority

The SNP complaint about ‘Scotland being ignored’ in the Brexit debate highlights the different opinions of Westminster, Brussels and Holyrood. To which does a member of Parliament owe their greatest loyalty?

Central to the Brexit debate is the sovereignty of the European Court of Justice, the sovereignty of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the sovereignty of Parliament and the sovereignty of the people, the monarch and the Government. In secular debate, the sovereignty of God is ignored.

Conflicting loyalties

These considerations show the conflicting loyalties of a Member of Parliament – to the the will of the people in the result of referenda, to their parliamentary constituency, to their party, to the Government, to the House of Commons, to their own conscientious opinion and to ‘the good of the country’ as understood by themselves. Where does one go from here?

Who can you trust?

Trust to do what? You can trust them to be a politician, but what about issues beyond that? You want accountability and competence, but accountable to what and to whom?

It is typical for the majority of people to vote for a political party rather than a person because of the primary principles for which that political party stands.

If you want them to represent you then these conflicting loyalties point to the importance of voting for the person whom you think most represents your wishes.

Jesus answers:

Jesus said: “No-one can serve two masters.”

Jesus Christ: Mat 6:24

Jesus was applying the general principle of getting our priorities right – “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you’ Mat 6:33. He had applied it to money. “You cannot serve God and money.”

In the political realm it is necessary to know who is your MP’s master? Applying this principal, “you cannot serve God and your political party” when that political party is not serving God.

Sovereignty of God

Above the sovereignty of the people, the sovereignty of Parliament, the sovereignty of the sovereign, the delegated sovereignty of the European Parliament, the sovereignty of the Supreme Court and the sovereignty of the European Court of Justice is the sovereignty of God.

Christians need to vote for competent Christians.