Lords Reform

Two Archbishops and 24 Bishops of the Church of England currently have seats as of right in the House of Lords. The NSS has long argued that this is unfair, undemocratic and undesirable.

We welcome the coalition government's proposals to reform the Lords. We believe that any serious proposals to reform the Lords must address the unjustified privilege of the Bishops' Bench.

The United Kingdom is unique among Western democracies in giving religious representatives seats in its legislature as of right. The vast majority of Western democracies have abandoned all links between Church and State, with no discernible adverse consequences.

We believe it is now time for the Bishops to be completely removed from the House of Lords. It is also vitally important that the reformed Second Chamber should not have any specific religious representation whether ex-officio or appointed, whether of Christian denominations or any other faiths. The presence of religious leaders amounts to double representation of religious interests as many temporal peers already identify themselves as being religiously motivated.

Many previous proposals have been to extend religious representation in the Lords to other religions, rather than remove the bench of bishops. This is a position currently supported by the Church of England. We think this is completely the wrong answer. Such a move would not only be unworkable and unpopular, but it would also carry a high risk of creating resentment in minority communities that are already sensitive to discrimination.

The NSS maintains that retaining the bench of bishops or extending religious representation by selection on religious grounds alone would be inimical to the Government's stated aim of 'modernisation' and would be an affront to democracy.

After over a century of decline in religious attendance in Britain the claim that Bishops — or any other religious representatives — speak for any significant constituency is clearly far off the mark. Less that 2% of the British population now attend Anglican services on the average Sunday. By 2050 this figure is forecast to drop to just 0.3% of the population.

In an increasingly secular society the role of religious representatives in our legislature has become increasingly irrelevant, and has in fact stood in the way of progressive legislation.

The NSS also rejects the implication that the Bishops somehow provide special moral insights denied to other members of the House. The idea that Bishops or any other 'religious leaders' have any monopoly on issues of morality is offensive to many non-religious UK citizens. The NSS contends that those who profess no religion are no less capable of making moral and ethical judgements.

The NSS believes that neither prayers nor religious oaths should form any part of the proceedings in a reformed House of Lords.

What are we doing?

With a view to creating a more democratic chamber, we are advocating the complete removal of bishops from the House of Lords, taking the line that the retention of reserved places for Church of England bishops in a reformed House of Lords is unfair and grossly undemocratic. We are also resisting calls (primarily from the bishops themselves) for representation to be extended to other denominations or faiths – a move we regard as deeply undesirable and entirely unworkable.

In December 2010, while the draft Lords Reform Bill was being drafted we submitted a briefing calling for an entirely secular chamber to the Deputy Prime Minister Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, The Cabinet Office and the House of Lords Reform Team.

Following the publication of the Bill we submitted a response to the Consultation on the House of Lords Reform Draft Bill, urging the Committee to reject the Draft Bill's proposals to retain the Bench of Bishops.

We are now monitoring the progress of the proposed legislation and the work of the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill.