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Hannah Rich

@hannahmerich.bsky.social
883 followers 577 following 487 posts

Senior researcher at Theos Think Tank. Former director of Christians on the Left. Always mixing religion and politics for a living. Fan of good stories, football, big earrings and oatcakes.

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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It’s a running joke among friends how much of an AI-sceptic I am (never used it, never will) but you are all very welcome to come live under this cosy rock with me and Pope Leo. There’s life here still.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Cruz de Ferro, 8am this morning, highest point in the whole Camino. Yes I cried.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I am Not Working just now, so whatever the outcome today, you’ll be spared my long read on Tonda Eckert, Meister Eckhart and the theology of forgiveness.
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Rachel Charlton-Dailey @rachelcdailey.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Today I learnt that Charles Dance's dad was born in 1874. And THEN Charles Dance's youngest kid was born in 2012. Imagine being 14, and your Granda served in the Second Boer War.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Last night in León, there was a group of pilgrims from a parish in Poland near the Ukrainian border, cycling from home to Santiago to pray for the war to end. Put my sore tired feet into perspective a bit. People are good.
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Christopher Hale @christopherjhale.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
“Jesus doesn’t hear the prayers of those who wage war.” — Pope Leo XIV
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Halfway from Pamplona to Santiago. Big skies, sore feet, gorgeous sun rises, all the cafés con leche and a good good God.
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Hugh Brechin @hughrbrechin.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
history would have been so different if Pontius Pilate could just have said this
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I’m leaving to walk the Camino today until October, stopped off on the way to the train to hear a recently-priested mate preach and the opening hymn was the banger that is ‘He Who Would Valiant Be.’ To be a pilgrim, indeed.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
I know the 'opt out of triggering PR emails' things on Mothers' Day etc. can be divisive, but I think we can all unite behind the 'let us know if you'd rather we didn't contact you about rugby' email I've just received from a pub I visited once.
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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
many (!) objections to Cofnas but — similarly to Nigel Biggar not being a historian or having any historical training — he’s not a geneticist, he’s a *philosopher*. why even pretend he has any ability to talk about the subjects in which he pretends to be an expert?
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
I'm seeing so many women wearing ballet flats and skinny pedal pushers just now, and are we back?!
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I've written for @theosthinktank.bsky.social on community spaces, high streets & why Andy Burnham is right about betting shops and in the process, educated my whole team on what a potbank is. Next up: oatcakes.
theosthinktank.co.uk
A bet on community
As the Premier League and Prime Minister question the prominence of betting companies, Hannah Rich reflects on the knotty ethics of the gambling industry and the need for regenerated community spaces....
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Kevin Hargaden @kevinhargaden.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The scourge of main streets ruined by crummy retail - especially bookies - is detailed in this argument by @hannahmerich.bsky.social but she goes beyond lamenting their harms to picture a better alternative www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2026...
theosthinktank.co.uk
A bet on community
As the Premier League and Prime Minister question the prominence of betting companies, Hannah Rich reflects on the knotty ethics of the gambling industry and the need for regenerated community spaces....
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Years ago, a man phoned local radio where I grew up to suggest we should all meet down the reservoir with buckets of water from our taps to combat the drought. It's a proper lasting sadness of mine that the clip is no longer online.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I've just read a job advert where embracing AI is framed as a quality/attribute of the person rather than a skill/task of the role and it quite literally couldn't be me.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Started watching The Rapture today and bloody hell it’s prescient this summer isn’t it?
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
That emergency alarm will be the main character in a heatwave lit novel in a few years time.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I've written for @theosthinktank.bsky.social on community spaces, high streets & why Andy Burnham is right about betting shops and in the process, educated my whole team on what a potbank is. Next up: oatcakes.
theosthinktank.co.uk
A bet on community
As the Premier League and Prime Minister question the prominence of betting companies, Hannah Rich reflects on the knotty ethics of the gambling industry and the need for regenerated community spaces....
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Tempting fate but if this is really is the last day of the hellwave-heatwave, then I am so happy. I imagine this is how summer people feel about making it to the end of January.
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👻 Jack Djinn Wail 🧞 @jacktindale.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
New favourite headline and subheading of the year.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
No London teams in either the men's or women's Hundred finals this year for the first time (and only one Southern team), is this Burnham's Britain?
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
PSA that 'Ruth' by Kate Riley is 99p on Kindle this month. Hilarious, theological, bittersweet, about love and the nature of religious community - you should all run and read it so I've got someone to discuss it with.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Before the budget last year, when the govt dared to talk about taxing the gambling industry more, there was a Times piece arguing that betting shop workers were the new Samaritans, their shops the new community centres, and I've not stopped thinking about it since.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This is a very new experience for me, agreeing so wholeheartedly with a TGC take on something:
thegospelcoalition.org
Our Line in the Sand on AI: TGC’s Missional Opportunity
TGC articles are human-made, human-edited, human-assessed, made in human community for other humans—as an act of love, fellowship, and worship.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I see we've added 'wear trainers' to this list this morning.
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churchtimes.bsky.social @churchtimes.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
"Residents here aren’t stupid, and they know that they need representatives who treat their communities as ends in themselves rather than as a means to something else.” ✍️ On a sunny July day, James Macintyre takes the political temperature in #Clacton #farage #churchtimes
churchtimes.co.uk
Beating heart of Clacton-on-Sea: the Church, Nigel Farage, a by-election, and a misunderstood community
ALL that can be heard in the background during the intercessions, which include prayers for the news media, during the 9am mass at St Christopher’s, Jaywick, is the faint sound of a seagull’s call. The congregation of ten follow the prayers respec...
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
One day I'll grow up enough not to snigger at the prevalence of 'cleavage' in political science literature but not just yet.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
We want our politicians to be human, but not take Friday night off for family dinners, or go on holiday during recess, or ever dare to change their minds on anything. Got it.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I could (and maybe will) write reams about this, but 100% agree. Underestimated the scale, breadth and depth of opposition in the PLP, and their capacity to scrutinise bad legislation.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
It's fascinating and encouraging to watch the media get to grips with talking about faith thanks to the new PM - a pleasure to be quoted in this Guardian piece:
theguardian.com
The UK has its first Catholic PM – but don’t expect a US-style religious culture war to follow
Trump administration has clashed with Vatican on social issues but Burnham’s faith is shaped by different principles
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Excuse the clunky anecdote drop, but I was in Downing Street yesterday and I thought the PM's wife's dress was stunning, and even had a chat with the person next to me about the lovely colour. Sisterhood, eh?
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
We're all moaning about the half time show, but my dad still hasn't recovered from the scandal of Rita Ora and Clean Bandit at the women's T20 world cup final last week. Just not cricket.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I don't want to spoil it, but in this week's episode the Viral Wholesome Nuns make each other cry with how lovely they are to their sisters and it's almost too much.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
Am I the only one having a total sense of humour failure when it comes to Count Binface?
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Theos @theosthinktank.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Will Andy Burnham's Catholicism shape his leadership? @hannahmerich.bsky.social unpacks Andy Burnham's Catholic heritage and the continued influence of faith on his policies for ABC's Religion and Ethics report. 🎙️ Tune in here: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
abc.net.au
Will new UK Labor leader Andy Burnham's Catholicism shape his leadership? - ABC listen
Long before being a PM incumbent, Andy Burnham was a pious altar boy in his local Catholic church in Liverpool.  Burnham has referred frequently to his Catholic background and values, even if he obse...
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Bob the cat had a sister called Mary, I did not see that plot twist coming.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Has anyone done a pub quiz picture round of celebrities Sam Matterface has failed to identify in the crowd yet?
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
So much sports drama in the last 24 hours that the real one is getting forgotten. Justice for Sophie Ecclestone.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
My dad (a retired maths teacher no less) tells me that England have a "54% chance" of winning the T20 WC final on Sunday. Turns out he's quoting a fan vote of a couple of hundred people on the BBC website. It's not the kids we need to worry about with fake news...
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Anna Dixon MP for Shipley @annadixonmp.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
I am Chair of Christians on the Left. We encourage Christians to become Labour candidates and campaign for social justice. With so much division and hate in our political debate at the moment I thought I would share this today. Do join us www.christiansontheleft.org.uk/membership
christiansontheleft.org.uk
Join or Subscribe — Christians on the Left - Speaking Truth to Power
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Andy Burnham would be the first PM since Wilson whose constituency relies on Euston to get to/from London. Maybe now it'll finally stop being hell in the form of a station concourse. We live in hope.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Fairly or not, anyone who has knocked more than a couple of doors recently knows this moment was inevitable.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
I put my pillowcases in the freezer this morning. Utter genius, where do I collect my Nobel prize?
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Colm Murphy @colmpm.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
I have to say, listening to the Today programme dedicate an entire (context free) section about whether migrants are more likely to be convicted criminals *the morning after* hundreds of non-migrants of my own ethnicity committed a pogrom is blood boiling.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Me driving the DLR:
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Things that only make sense in the @theosthinktank.bsky.social office: 'I'm just popping to the shops, do you want a copy of the encyclical?'
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
It was a joy to join @mainstreamlabour.bsky.social this weekend for a panel on the politics of pluralism, covering everything from community organising & trade unions, to what Christian socialism brings to the party & why Labour is at its best when it embraces the breadth of the broad church.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
London today is like a zombie film but instead of getting raptured, everyone else is suddenly in an Arsenal shirt.
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Hannah Rich @hannahmerich.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
After four years as director, I'm moving on from @chrleft.bsky.social this summer. If you've ever thought you'd like to apply for this mad, brilliant, unique job of mine, I'd be very happy to chat about it. Details here: www.w4mpjobs.org/JobDetails.a...
w4mpjobs.org
w4mp | The site for everyone working for an MP
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