The former Conservative government minister and devout Christian Ann Widdecombe is to head the pro-Brexit campaign group Christians for Britain.

Widdecombe, currently a successful novelist and columnist for the Express, has agreed to become president of the group started by Adrian "Archbishop Cranmer" Hilton and CofE vicar Giles Fraser.

Giving her first interview on her new role exclusively to Christian Today, she said she did not believe that Christian doctrine pointed to a decision to leave the EU.

But Widdecombe, a convert to Catholicism from the Church of England, does believe Christians should all be free to choose, and that the comments so far from the hierarchies of all the churches have leaned towards the pro-EU side.

In his controversial interview spelling out how people are genuinely frightened by the migrant crisis, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby also said: "You can't say 'God says you must vote this way or that way'. I don't think there is one correct Christian view, one way or the other." 

Widdecombe, an admirer of London Mayor Boris Johnson, said: "The hierarchies of both churches have been making pro-European noises. I believe it is very important that Christians do not come to believe they have a moral duty to vote to stay."

She herself supports Brexit because she understands there will be no other opportunity in the lifetime of most if not all adults alive today to vote to leave. "It is no good thinking we can come out at a later stage. There will not be that opportunity. It is a now or never situation." She also supports the concept of self-government. "We are certainly not self-governing for as long as we are in Europe."

As president of Christians for Britain, she expects to speak at public events and support Hilton in running the Christian Brexit campaign.