New legislation will increase representation of female bishops in the House of Lords
from Gov.uk:
The Government will extend measures to speed up increasing the representation of women bishops within the Lords Spiritual for a further five years.
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.
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