VICARS have been urged to encourage their congregations to get out and vote.

The Bishop of Wakefield has written to clergy across the diocese telling them to stress the importance of taking part in the May 6 general election.

The Rt Rev Stephen Platten said: “Nobody can tell us how to vote – although many people will try and persuade us one way or the other – yet it is important for us as a church to lead the way by showing that we all have a responsibility to vote.

“God asks us to be stewards of his world and to love it as he does.

“We have a share in building Christ’s kingdom and that means taking part in the process of shaping a vision for the kind of world we would like to live in.”

He added: “We should be responsible citizens by voting in a way we think is for the common good and which will help us to live more fully as human beings.

“This is not just about our role as citizens, but our common role as the church.”

The Wakefield diocese of the Church of England is made up of 188 parishes stretching from Todmorden in the West to Knottingley in the East and from Morley in the North to Barnsley in the South.