[ 2014-12-28 ]

One person in three sees the Queen as giving the strongest moral lead

Queen takes ‘most moral leader’ title
THE Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge
provide the best moral leadership for Britons,
ahead of church leaders including the Archbishop
of Canterbury, according to a poll.

A YouGov survey for The Sunday Times, in which
respondents were asked to choose three or four
names from a list, found 34% of people see the
Queen as giving the strongest moral lead. In
second place were Prince William and Kate, who
were named by 30%.

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was
shot by a terrorist for defying the Taliban, was
third with 19%, while Justin Welby, the Archbishop
of Canterbury, was in fourth place (15%) and David
Cameron in fifth (8%).
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of
Westminster and leader of Britain’s Catholics,
was in 15th place with just 5% of the vote — the
same as Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, but behind
the actress Judi Dench and the former footballer
David Beckham, among others.

The Queen’s place at the top of the list of
moral leaders reflects the tone of her Christmas
message, although the poll was conducted before
the broadcast.

Emphasising her own religious beliefs in the
annual message, watched by 7.8m people on the BBC
and ITV, she said: “For me, the life of Jesus
Christ, the Prince of Peace, whose birth we
celebrate today, is an inspiration and an
anchor.” She also spoke of a spirit of
reconciliation in the centenary of the First World
War and how Christ was a “role model of
forgiveness”.
Although the royal family seems to have recovered
from the public disquiet over its various divorces
and anger at its reaction to the death of Diana,
Princess of Wales in 1997, the high regard in
which the royals are now held is largely thanks to
the Queen.

Sarah Bradford, the royal author and historian,
said: “The Queen’s example is enough to prove
her moral leadership.”

The Prince of Wales scored 8% and, in a separate
poll, came sixth when respondents were asked who
provided the worst moral leadership. He was the
highest rated non-politician in that poll.

The five personalities seen as the worst were:
Nigel Farage of Ukip with 39%; Cameron (26%); Nick
Clegg, the deputy prime minister (26%); Miliband
(20%) and the home secretary Theresa May (12%).

Source - The Times(UK)

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