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Good morning. The two remaining candidates, and indeed all those who originally stood for election as leader of the Conservative Party believe that they have leadership qualities. Otherwise of course they would not have stood for election in the first place. Good leadership is essential in every sphere of life- business, the armed services, the civil service, wherever. And it is essential at every level, whether as local shop steward, or General Secretary of the union, as parish priest or Bishop. What has always interested me is how much a leader should give a strong lead themselves, and how far they should allow others to shape or modify their own views. On a spectrum of 1-10 with 1 being a free for all with decisions coming out of the group as a whole and 10 when the leader allows no dissent, I judged I stood at about 6 or 7-though whether that is how others saw me, is another matter. One thing is quite clear, whether they are consensual or an autocrat a leader has to carry the others with them, and this will involve personal qualities as well as political policies. I think of St Paul - someone with very strong views, not perhaps always an easy man to work with, but who possessed two qualities that made him the most remarkable leader of the early church. First, he was deeply respected. His fellow believers knew that he was not in it or himself-he even insisted on earning his own living as a tentmaker rather than being a financial burden on the church- and he was willing to suffer hostility, beatings, imprisonment and in the end death for his faith. Secondly St Paul cared deeply both that people should hear his message, and for the tiny communities of believers springing up around the Mediterranean. You can sometimes get irritated with St Paul but cannot read his letters without sensing the deep care he had for those to whom he was writing. When they suffered he suffered with them. By the high standards of St Paul I am sure we all fail, certainly I do. Winston Churchill and Clement Attlee were totally different in both personality and styles of leadership, but both were deeply respected, and both carried passionately about their country. The achievements of both are still very much with us. If the next Prime Minister, whoever they are, is to be similarly remembered in the future they too will need to have those personal qualities exemplified by Paul, and to which most of us, in our best moments, aspire.