A Lifetime of Service to God and Country

In his capacity as an office holder of the church, Lord Hurd describes himself as 'very junior', but in his career he held some of the highest offices in the land: as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary.  Rebecca Paveley joined him at his home in Burford to discover what role his faith has played throughout his years in Government and beyond.

Douglas, now Lord, Hurd seems to have changed very little since he held high office under Margaret Thatcher and John Major’s governments in the 1980s and 90s. Seated in the library of his home in west Oxfordshire, he seems as statesmanlike and gracious as ever. He is happy to talk of his faith, and the part it played in his political life: though he obviously does not approve of modern-day politicians who ‘wear their faith on their sleeve’.

Around the Cabinet table in the Conservative Governments in which he served people were reticent in talking about their religious views, he says, though each was aware of the other’s.
‘I don’t hold with wearing faith on one’s sleeve – it is as likely to put people off as inspire them. People don’t like too much shouting about one’s faith but they like to feel it is there and that it is an influence.’

Lord Hurd was brought up in the Anglican church, in Marlborough, Wiltshire, where his parents were regular churchgoers. He was sent to Eton, where attending chapel was compulsory.
He said: ‘It [church] gave me the rhythm of the year and also gave me the language – I’m a member of the Prayer Book Society – I think the language is important, though the Church does need variety too.’

His small parish church in Westwell uses services from the Book of Common Prayer, though other churches in the 13-parish benefice use Common Worship.

‘The variety of liturgy is very important – we genuinely now have a choice and that choice prevents any poisonous arguments,’ he says.

His faith journey seems to have been remarkably steady through his teens and working life, I say. Have there been any moments of doubt?

He says: ‘One always has times of wavering I think but after that wavering I have come back... It is like a background, there all the time – there is always a glimmer. I wish it was a stronger light at times but there is a glimmer there, all the time.’

His faith has been a steady influence in his politics – influencing views and votes in Parliament. The ability to pray - particularly over some of the big decisions like the Yugoslav Wars during which time he served as Foreign Secretary - was vitally important.

‘Faith does help in politics. My three Cabinet jobs all involved making difficult decisions with an ethical flavour – from capital punishment to war and peace. Most had in their background the question of right or wrong and I certainly have prayed over many of the decisions I have made.’
 His role during the Yugoslav Wars has evoked criticism from many. He was reluctant to send aid to Bosnia, in defiance of the line taken by US President Bill Clinton, arguing that it would only prolong the conflict. But he insists he was led throughout by what he calls the ‘Christian view of war’ – it is this that has led him consistently to oppose the invasion in Iraq.

‘The most difficult single issue for me in office was the Yugoslav war. I thought then and have thought since about Iraq and the Christian view of war and that is what guided me throughout. I was very hesitant about using force in Yugoslavia. I’m quite sure the Iraq war was wrong, I don’t know how Tony Blair can have got into the position he has on it. We have to be very careful to apply a strict test of justice before we go to war.

‘War is only justified on a very narrow set of reasons based on self-defence. If we are intervening on ethical grounds we have to be sure we are going to leave behind a better set of circumstances, which we have clearly failed to do in Iraq and were always going to fail to do there.
‘We really have to have imagination to see what we are doing when we send people off to kill and be killed.  I rather think we have lost that imaginative power.’

The issues of war and of capital punishment are the examples he offers for the most direct involvement of his faith in his political life: ‘War is a big example of how a Christian background does affect one’s political view, as is capital punishment. I believe it is wrong for a human to stand in judgement and take the life of another human being.’

He is still involved now in the issues of crime and punishment, supporting and working for the Prison Reform Trust now he has left office, which he did in 1997.

‘The question of crime and punishment is one of the big moral problems of our society. We are not very good at finding ways of punishing people outside of prison. Prison spoils any hope of rehabilitating people – it can become an expensive way of making people worse.’

Lord Hurd spends three or four days of each week up in London, either working with the Prison Reform Trust, or with the companies for whom he holds directorships.

But returning home to his wife, his dog and the new lambs that are just beginning to totter around in his field, is undoubtedly the best part of his week. His long weekends are sacrosanct. It is at home in his library where he also writes his books: he has published some very well-received historical biographies, and several thrillers.

Attending the small church in his hamlet is also very much part of his time at home. The day before our interview, he walked the mile or so to Holwell for Evening Prayer as there was no service in St Mary’s Church, which is just a minute’s walk from his home.

Last year he was elected churchwarden for his parish and it is evident the role brings him great pleasure, though he insists he is not very good at it yet: ‘I am still not very skilful at some parts of it, particularly the preparation of Holy Communion. I have to ring the bell for church and there is quite a knack to it.’

Occasionally he preaches. But this role is not his only formal office in the Church of England: after he left politics he was also appointed the High Steward of Westminster Abbey, an honorary position. He also chaired the Hurd Commission, which produced a review of the roles and functions of the Archbishop of Canterbury, before Rowan Williams took up office. It was a fascinating insight into the daily life of the Archbishop, he says.

His second wife, Judy, supports him in London and at home in Westwell. His first marriage broke down under the strain of a demanding and intense political life. Judy is from Oxfordshire and the couple have been happily married for 26 years. Lord Hurd is also head of a long dynasty, with five children and, so far, 11  grandchildren. One of his sons, Nick, has followed in his footsteps (‘though with no involvement from me’, his father insists) and was elected as Conservative MP for Ruislip-Northwood in 2005.

Though the congregation at his church is small, he insists there is no need to despair for the future of the Church of England membership as some, vociferously, claim.

‘People say there are dwindling congregations in rural churches but I keep a diary and I know that there are slightly more people going to church in this tiny hamlet now than there were 30 years ago. People are quite wrong to despair.’

And with this calm, confident assertion, Lord Hurd is off to get ready for another week in London - still, at 78, ready to serve.