ONCE again we have passed through the political conference season.

It's the time in the political year when each party seeks to gather, unite and motivate their faithful. Beyond the relative security and familiarity of their conference halls, each party hopes that now the rallying cries are over, the speeches analysed and the faithful return home, trust and confidence in their distinctive messages, values and cherished policies will have reached and persuaded as wide an audience as possible.

What is clear is that for both major parties the landscape has changed.

No one could have predicted last year the momentous changes that a year in politics has produced.

To name the more obvious, we have a new prime minister and cabinet, an opposition leader twice elected and a Brexit vote with article 50 yet to be invoked. We are moving into new and uncharted waters for the United Kingdom in relation to global trade and uncertainty as to how our relationship with Europe and the rest of the world will emerge.

In a climate of change and uncertainty there is a longing for stability and competence which engenders confidence.

We want leaders we can trust. Knowing we are in safe hands, and can trust those entrusted with leadership, matters.

How much trust we afford our leaders is a question that is to the fore on both sides of the Atlantic. Similar things are happening in America. This presidential election seems to many to be unlike any in recent years.

Whom do we trust the most and why?

Leadership is never an easy business and those involved often find it a lonely place. Strategy and having a plan can only take one so far, there needs to be also the ability to inspire and motivate.

Doing the right thing requires balancing ideals and values with a realistic grasp of the art of the possible. Trust grows when those in leadership communicate what they are for and not simply what they are against.

Martin Luther, the great German reformer, wrote: "You are not only responsible for what you say but also for what you do not say."

Idealism and pragmatism have their place but perhaps of more importance is the unfolding of a convincing narrative of who we are as human beings and what we are meant to be as a society. The Christian tradition, among others, has put great weight on the stories that help us do this.

Policies are important but so too is a narrative that inspires trust.