Twenty-six Anglican bishops are given seats as of right in the House of Lords.
The UK is the only western democracy which reserves seats for clerics in its legislature.
This is unfair, undemocratic and undesirable. It's time to abolish the bishops' bench.
Two archbishops and 24 bishops of the Church of England currently have automatic seats in the House of Lords. They are sometimes known as 'the lords spiritual'.
We campaign for a secular upper house with no specific religious representation, whether of Christian denominations or any other faiths. In a secular state no religion or its leaders should have a privileged role in the legislature.
Any serious proposals to reform the House of Lords must address the unjustified privilege of the bishops' bench.
62% of Brits think no religious clerics should have an automatic right to seats in the House of Lords.
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 not warranted. Less than 1% of the British population now attend Anglican services on the average Sunday.
In addition, the presence of religious leaders amounts to double representation of religious interests as many peers already identify themselves as being religiously motivated. Retired religious leaders are often appointed as peers.
Bishops do not have any "special moral insight" unavailable to everybody else. The idea that bishops or any other 'religious leaders' have any monopoly on issues of morality is offensive to many non-religious citizens. Those who profess no religion are no less capable of making moral and ethical judgements.
In an increasingly secular society the role of religious representatives in our legislature has become irrelevant, and has stood in the way of progressive legislation.
Take action!
1. Write to your MP
Ask your MP to help end the archaic, unfair and undemocratic bishops’ bench in the House of Lords.
2. Share your story
Tell us why you support this campaign, and how you are personally affected by the issue. You can also let us know if you would like assistance with a particular issue.
3. Join the National Secular Society
Become a member of the National Secular Society today! Together, we can separate religion and state for greater freedom and fairness.
Latest updates
Lords committee proposals would hand bishops more power
Posted: Wed, 1 Nov 2017 15:26
Newly-published proposals to reform the House of Lords would see Church of England bishops given more power.
On Tuesday the Lord Speaker's committee on the size of the House of Lords recommended the House be reduced to 600 members, and its size capped at that number. A 'two-out, one-in' programme of departures would reduce the House's size until it reached the target of 600.
The committee, which was chaired by Lord Burns and had members from all parties and the crossbenches, only recommended changes which would not require legislation. It did not consider recommending reducing the number of Bishops in the Lords, as the measure was outside its remit.
The UK is unique among Western democracies in giving representatives of religious groups automatic seats in its legislature: 26 Church of England bishops sit in the Lords as of right. The National Secular Society has long called for the removal of this right.
If the bishops retain their role while the number of other Lords is reduced, their votes will carry more weight. Over 800 Lords currently sit in the House.
In a written submission to the Lord Speaker's committee earlier this year, the NSS recommended the removal of the Bishops' Bench, calling it an "anomaly" in a modern, liberal democracy.
NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans said he was "alarmed" by the implications of the proposed changes.
"There may be perfectly reasonable arguments for a general reduction in the size of the Lords. But any proposals for Lords reform must consider the full impact of the measures being suggested. That means the justification – or lack of it – behind everyone's place in the House must be examined.
"Inertia and a refusal to legislate are not good enough reasons to give the bishops even more political power than they currently have.
"Ultimately the bishops' place in the UK parliament should be ended, not extended. Challenging the Church of England's unjust and unjustifiable religious privilege cannot stay in the 'too difficult' department forever."
The NSS has also criticised the bishops' regressive stance on issues such as the ordination of female Bishops, same-sex marriage and the decriminalisation of assisted suicide. Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said longer-standing members considered the Bishops' Bench "the most orthodox since WWII".
Lord Fowler, the Lord Speaker who set up the committee, welcomed the proposals. "This is the House of Lords reforming itself," he said. "It is being done without the benefit of legislation and relies on the agreement of members of the House."
Lord Burns said the committee had "proposed a radical yet achievable solution to the excessive size of the House of Lords".
The proposals could be delivered with the agreement of the House of Lords and the Prime Minister, provided major parties are willing to cooperate to reduce their members.
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Abolish Bishops’ Bench to reduce the size of the House of Lords
Posted: Tue, 21 Feb 2017 08:10
The National Secular Society has recommended the removal of the Bishops' Bench to a parliamentary inquiry into how to reduce the size of the bloated House of Lords.
In a written submission to the Lord Speaker's committee on the size of the House of Lords, Stephen Evans, the campaigns director of the National Secular Society, said: "There is no reasonable justification for allowing Church of England bishops to act as ex-officio legislators. The Bench of Bishops is an anomaly in a modern, liberal democracy and if a need to reduce the size of the chamber has been identified the Bishops' Bench is an obvious place to start."
To cut the number of peers to a more manageable size the NSS urged the committee to "consider entirely removing the Bishops' Bench and ending the arrangement whereby religious representatives are given seats as of right."
Not only would this make the upper house less crowded, but it would make a "more equitable and democratic chamber", the Society said.
The Society said that it was wrong for any religion to have a privileged position in the upper chamber, and that it was long since time for the anachronism of the Bishops' Bench to be removed.
Currently two archbishops and 24 bishops are given seats in the upper house and are able to vote on legislation.
Their position grants them other privileges, and they are given deferential treatment by other members. Other peers defer to a bishop wishing to intervene, and they are able to speak unconstrained by party quotes – both points the NSS raised with the Lord Speaker's committee.
The current settlement is "both divisive and unrepresentative", and on some issues the bishops do not even represent the views of their own laity, the Society said, citing marriage equality as an example.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has called the current Bench of Bishops the most "orthodox" since WWII.
It was "indefensible" to maintain the status quo, the Society's submission said, and polling from 2012 and 2010 found a majority of the public, including 70% of Christians, believe it is wrong for the bishops to be given seats automatically.
In its submission the Society again stressed its opposition to replacing or supplementing bishops with leaders from other faiths.
"Any proposals to extend religious representation in the Lords to other religions, such as made by the Woolf Commission in 2016, must be resisted. Such a move would be both unworkable and unpopular and run the risk of creating sectarian tensions.
"It would further erode the franchise of the increasing numbers of non-religious people, and indeed of the many liberal religious people," the Society argued.
The Electoral Reform Society has also criticised the current role of the Church of England in the House of Lords. They said that "The place of the Lords Spiritual is anachronistic.
"Iran is the only other legislature in the world which gives unelected clerics automatic representation in its legislature."
The ERS also rejected suggestions of adding more religious representatives from different faiths to represent minorities: "The automatic inclusion of representatives of other faiths is an unacceptable solution due to the difficulty of deciding which faiths and denominations within faiths to include, how to include non-religious organisations, and the constantly changing demographics of the UK."
The Lord Speaker's committee is charged with exploring "methods by which the size of the House of Lords can be reduced, commensurate with its current role and functions."
The House of Lords currently has over 850 members, making it the second-largest legislative body in the world.
