 The principal character of the novel is the Reverend John Gore, a 31-year old Church of England vicar who returns to his native north-east in order to start a new church in the run-down (fictional) area of Hoxheath.Gore is a supporter of the Labour Party, although both his father and his sister, Susannah, a PR consultant, vote Conservative.Gore renews an acquaintanceship with Dr Martin Pallister, a former lecturer and left-wing firebrand who, encouraged by Susannah, has become an ambitious New Labour MP.