The Policy paper King’s Speech 2024: background briefing notes was issued on 17 July 2024 following the King’s Speech. The section relating to the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill was reproduced in an earlier post. The Bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 30 July 2024 and received its first reading. The second reading is scheduled for 10 September 2024.

The text of the Bill and Explanatory Notes are available, together with a government press release:

• Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill [HL], as introduced.
• Explanatory Notes, prepared by the Cabinet Office.
• Press release: New legislation will increase representation of female bishops in the House of Lords, extracts of which are reproduced below.

The bill will extend the application of the 2015 Act for a further five years, specifically to vacancies arising among the Lords Spiritual before 18 May 2030.

Press Release

The Press Release states [emphasis added]:

• Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill will extend existing rules aimed at increasing the number of women bishops in the House of Lords.
• Women bishops have been introduced to the Lords more quickly since original legislation came into force in 2015.

The Government will extend measures to speed up increasing the representation of women bishops within the Lords Spiritual for a further five years. The term ‘Lords Spiritual’ refers to the 26 Church of England diocesan bishops who sit in the House of Lords.

The new bill, which has been requested by the Church of England, will ensure that vacant seats are filled by women bishops if an eligible female diocesan bishop is available. With the first female Diocesan Bishop having been appointed in 2015, this is to address the temporary inequality created by a system based on longevity of service. There are exceptions for the five great sees (Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, Bishop of London, Bishop of Durham, and Bishop of Winchester) who have an automatic entitlement to sit in the House of Lords.

The measures have seen six women bishops enter the House of Lords more quickly since the passage of the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 than otherwise would have been the case. The original legislation had been due to expire in May 2025 and its extension will allow more time to achieve greater representation. 

The extension to be granted under the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Bill to May 2030 will postpone a return to the previous process, which saw seats allocated to the longest serving bishops.

Diocesan bishops are appointed by The King on the advice of the Prime Minister based on nominations from the Crown Nominations Commission.

Comment

On the territorial extent of the Bill – England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – Peter Owen notes:

“The 2015 Act also applies to the whole UK (see section 2(2)). I don’t think that this is a mistake. Although only Church of England diocesan bishops (except Europe and Sodor & Man) are eligible to sit in the House of Lords, the House is part of the parliament of the United Kingdom. The explicit application to the whole of the UK makes it clear that the Lords Spiritual are not restricted to purely English matters”.