Cameron talks about his Christian faith on Songs of Praise

 The Conservative leader appeared on tonight's BBC1 Songs of Praise, which came from his Oxfordshire constituency of Witney.

Mr Cameron talked about growing up as a regular churchgoer and attendee of Sunday School.

He said he didn't go to church as regularly as he should but that he was a Christian who believed in God. I don't drop to my knees for guidance, he said, but it is part of who I am. He confessed that politicians were all a mixture of 'ego' and 'altro' and he hoped that 'altro' would always win through in his case. He said that hard times had not shaken his faith but had strengthened it.

This is the Tory leader's second interview about his faith in quick succession. He recently told the Evening Standard that...

"I was a good, sceptical, questioning Christian when I was younger. I liked to think it through, thinking am I really sure about this? But I don't feel I have a direct line [to God]. I think that it's perfectly possible to live a good life without having faith, by which I mean a positive and altruistic life, but I think the teachings of Jesus just as the teachings of other religions are a good guide to help us through. Do unto others as you would have them do to you; don't walk on by. These are good and thoughtful ideas to bring to life."

I don't know many Christians who would vote for a politician simply because they said they believed in God although David Cameron came across as a very likeable and very decent person in the interview.

Much more important to most Christians is what a politician believes... For example:

• Will their policies help the poorest people in the world? 
  
• Will their policies attempt to reduce abortion? 
• Will their policies support marriage and the family? 
  
• Will their policies support Christian schools? 
  
• Will their policies combat Christianophobia? 

Because the answer to these questions is yes, yes, yes, yes and yes for the Conservatives, I have already concluded that Christian voters will support the Conservative Party in very large numbers at the next election but should never claim that a Christian should vote for one party.

Tim Montgomerie

> Watch David Cameron's Songs of Praise interview via iPlayer for one week via this link. It's a three minute segment from 18 mins, 40 seconds in.