Humanists UK Calls for Separation of Church of England and State, Removal of Bishops’ House of Lords Seats

The Church of England is the established church in England, and its monarch is also its head. Under the arrangement described by the Humanist Society’s policy unit, 26 Church of England bishops hold seats in the House of Lords automatically. The campaign group says the UK is one of only two sovereign states that grants legislative seats to religious leaders by right, the other being Iran. Each day in Parliament begins with prayers, and those who attend receive privileged access to seats.

Wales and Northern Ireland have no established church. In Scotland, the Church of Scotland is considered the “national church,” with the monarch as its head, though the source says this carries no non-ceremonial consequences of the kind that establishment has in England. The source notes that Humanist Society Scotland, a sister charity, works on that issue.

The Humanists UK group advocates disestablishment and a secular UK that treats everyone equally regardless of religion or belief. Its stated goals include removing the automatic right of 26 bishops to sit in the Lords, making parliamentary prayers inclusive for all, and basing appointments or elections to the chamber on secular grounds. The group describes the bishops’ automatic presence as a present example of discrimination, religious privilege and undemocratic politics, rather than a harmless legacy. It argues that the arrangement is at odds with a society it describes as multi-faith and majority non-religious, citing the British Social Attitudes Survey. The group says it wants any future Lords reform to remove the Lords Spiritual.

The source cites public opinion polling. A 2017 YouGov poll for The Times found that 62% of British adults think no religious clerics should have “an automatic right to seats,” while 8% support the status quo and 12% support adding leaders of other faiths alongside the bishops. A 2013 YouGov survey found that 27% of adults think the connection between the Church of England and the State should continue, and 51% think the Church should be separated from the State. The source also notes that Church of England attendance each week has been lower than the number of children in state-funded Church of England schools, who are required by law to take part in collective worship.

On parliamentary prayers, the source says each day in the Commons begins with Anglican prayers. It describes a prayer-card system in which MPs who attend can reserve their seat for the rest of the day. With 427 seats for 650 MPs, the group argues, MPs who do not attend prayers, and their constituents, are at a disadvantage on busy days, since those left standing are less likely to be called by the Speaker. “No parliamentarian should be put at a democratic disadvantage because of their religion or belief,” the source states. Treating every MP on equal terms in the chamber reflects a commitment to fair hearing (Proverbs 18:17). In 2024, the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, which the source says brings together over 120 non-religious MPs and peers, submitted evidence to the Commons Modernisation Committee calling for the removal of the “prayer privilege.” The source reports that some Labour MPs have informally stopped using the prayer-card system, which it says was perceived as “outdated,” and that MPs called for an end to parliamentary prayers in an Early Day Motion. The Leader of the House of Commons has ruled out a review of parliamentary prayers, according to the source.

The source also addresses pastoral care. The Speaker’s Chaplain, an Anglican priest, is appointed to provide pastoral care to MPs and lead daily prayers. The source says many MPs report they do not feel they can seek that care given the Anglican nature of the post. In hospitals and prisons, provision that was once exclusively Anglican has in recent years moved toward a range of religious chaplains as well as humanist pastoral carers.

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