David Cameron's faith won't wear out his knees

DAVID CAMERON will this evening give a glimpse into his spiritual life, describing himself as a Christian who believes in God and goes to church – "not as regularly as I should" – but does not get on his knees to pray in a crisis.

His comments, in an edition of BBC1's Songs Of Praise filmed in his Oxfordshire constituency of Witney mark a slight break from the tendency of recent political leaders to avoid discussing their faith.

Tony Blair famously did not "do God" while in office, and although Gordon Brown often speaks about the values he inherited from his minister father he rarely talks about his own religious beliefs. Nick Clegg sparked controversy when he became the only leader of a major party to declare he does not believe in God.

Cameron, who was brought up in an old rectory, said his family were "relatively regular churchgoers" and that Sunday School attendance was one of his memories of childhood.

He said: "I believe in God and I'm a Christian and I worship – not as regularly as I should – but I go to church. Do I drop to my knees and ask for guidance whenever an issue comes up? No, I don't. But it's part of who I am."

In an apparent reference to the death earlier this year of his son Ivan, Cameron said that tough times in his life had strengthened his faith.

"For me, and I suspect for lots of other people too, bad things actually sometimes make you think more about faith and the fact that you're not facing these things on your own," he said.

Cameron said he prayed when he went to church, and described it as "a quiet time when you can reflect a bit about your life, family and your responsibilities and ask some questions".