THE Archbishop of York has been named in a national awards search for the country's most inspiring political figure.

Next month, Channel 4 is hosting The Political Awards 2007, the ninth annual ceremony which is held in association with the Hansard Society.

Six well-known figures have been nominated in the Most Inspiring Political Figure category, including Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.

The other five nominees are Aishah Azmi, the young Muslim school assistant who sparked a debate on multiculturalism when she fought to keep her veil on the classroom; Prime Minister Tony Blair; Opposition leader David Cameron; British Army head Sir Richard Dannatt, and Brian Haw, the protester who has held a one-man campaign against the Iraq war outside the Houses of Parliament since June 2001.

The winner of the award will be decided by the public, who are being asked to vote.

A Channel 4 profile of Dr Sentamu said he had "managed to remain a clear moral voice" in a church riven by differences.

The profile said: "Dr Sentamu has been a strong opponent of the gradual secularisation of British public life - from the councils who refer to Christmas as "Winterval" to the Post Office which dropped religious themes from its Christmas stamps.

"He remains an advocate for traditional Christian values, but manages to seem in touch with an increasingly secular modern world.

"And if anyone can preserve the integrity of the Anglican communion - keeping the conservative evangelicals of the global south on speaking terms with the liberals of the north, then Archbishop Sentamu, born in Africa but ordained in England, is that man."

Dr Sentamu was born in Uganda and began his career as a lawyer. He spoke out against the murderous regime of dictator Idi Amin, and left the country in 1974.

Once in Britain, he spent 13 years as a priest in Tulse Hill, south London, and became Bishop of Stepney in 2002. He took the same role in Birmingham, and was made the first black Archbishop of York in 2005.

Last year, Dr Sentamu attracted huge media coverage when he spent a week camped in York Minster without food to raise awareness of the suffering of those caught up in the conflict between Israel and Lebanon.

You can vote for the country's most inspiring political figure by text, email or phone.

To vote, log on to: www.channel4.com