An open letter to David Cameron written by a United Reformed Church minister on Facebook has been shared more than 100,000 times.
The Rev Mike Walsh wrote his letter after the Conservative election victory. In it he says that he is "willing to believe that you are a good man, as sure of your ideals as I am of mine, and believe your plan is what's best for us all".
However, he points out that the party had failed to carry Scotland and large parts of the North of England and suggests that it is because "so many of us are scared" of the impact of government policies on the health service and schools, and the impact of the 'bedroom tax'.
Walsh agreed that the best way out of poverty was to work and that people who could work should be expected to do so. However, he adds: "But your party's policies on these issues, couched in terms of reducing the deficit and balancing the books, don't seem to take into account the social and human cost of such actions. The country isn't a business, it's its people. All its people. And you are everyone's Prime Minister whether we voted for you or not."
He urges Mr Cameron to use his first 100 days in office to "spend time in Scotland visiting people on zero hours contracts. Come to Manchester and talk with those who have been sanctioned for having a spare room, but have nowhere else to go. Go to Liverpool and meet people with disabled dependents who can't afford even one nanny, or to Newcastle and talk to people still living in poverty due to the demise of the coal industry. Spend a week or two living on the minimum wage, or volunteer in a food bank for a whole day."
He concludes: "So please Prime Minister, leave Westminster for a few hours a week and truly strive to govern for all of us."
As well as sharing the letter on Facebook, Walsh also sent it to the Prime Minister personally and invited him to come to his Manchester home to meet the communities he works in. He wrote in a comment to those who shared his post: "To all those who wanted my letter to be angrier, be assured of my anger, but recognise this letter has clearly stood out amongst the thousands and thousands of angry posts on Facebook, and I want to talk to Mr Cameron, not simply shout at him."
