On 15 September 2026, Louise Haigh, First Secretary of State, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, and Minister for the Cabinet Office, will present the Church appointments (repeal of discriminatory provision) Bill under (Standing Order No. 57):
“A Bill to repeal provision which prohibits persons of the Roman Catholic or Jewish faiths from advising the Crown on appointments in the Church of England or Church of Scotland; and to repeal provision which precludes such persons from making ecclesiastical appointments”.
Standing Order No. 57 requires that the Bill “[to] be read the first time without any question being put and ordered to be read a second time on such day as the Member presenting it shall appoint, and shall be ordered to be printed”.
The accompanying Press Release explains:
“The Bill will remove the historic religious restrictions which prevents a Roman Catholic or Jewish Prime Minister from carrying out the full constitutional duties of their office.
[…]
As principal adviser to the Monarch, providing advice on appointments to the Church of England is a part of the Prime Minister’s role. Amendments were brought into law in the late 18th and early 19th centuries to remove restrictions on Catholic and Jewish people in public life. However, the restrictions on Church appointments were left in place, and that is what The Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill will remove.
Up until recently these restrictions had no practical effect as there has not been a Roman Catholic or Jewish Prime Minister, and these restrictions do not apply to people of other faiths or of no faith. This short, targeted Bill will modernise the law to enable the Prime Minister, and any future Jewish or Roman Catholic Prime Minister to carry out the complete functions of their office.
In the interim, the Prime Minister has transferred the responsibility to the Lord Chancellor to ensure that Church appointments can continue. This Bill is crucial in ensuring that all Prime Ministers can discharge this responsibility regardless of their personal religious beliefs”.
Comment
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 10 September 2026 that the government would introduce such a Bill, the House of Commons Library published a Research Briefing which looked at the historic basis of these restrictions and how they work in practice, Historic restrictions on members of the Catholic and Jewish faiths. With regard to the practical implications of the present restrictions, it states:
“The words ‘directly or indirectly’ in the 1829 and 1858 acts not only prohibit Ministers of the Crown from advising on church appointments, but also their advisers. This includes the Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary.
It is unclear whether the reference to the Church of Scotland has any continuing practical relevance, as appointments within the Kirk are made independently of the Monarch. Lay patronage, which previously gave landowners (including, where relevant, the Sovereign) a say in ecclesiastical appointments, was abolished by the Church Patronage (Scotland) Act 1874.
Restrictions only apply to practising Catholics or Jews. Benjamin Disraeli (Prime Minister in 1868 and again between 1874 and 1880) was culturally Jewish but had an Anglican upbringing after the age of 12 so was able to advise the Crown.
If a Catholic holds the office of Prime Minister, then this aspect of their duties can be delegated to another Minister of the Crown (that is, another government minister) not similarly barred. In May 2021, media reports suggested that Boris Johnson’s role in church appointments had been transferred to the then Lord Chancellor, Robert Buckland. According to Rajiv Shah, a former Conservative special adviser (and a Catholic), this did not take place.