The Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (c. 18) is an act of Parliament of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It states that whenever a vacancy arises among the

Lords Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Up to 26 of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not including retired bish ...

during the next ten years after the act comes into force, the position has to be filled by a woman, if there is one who is eligible. In this case, the act supersedes section 5 of the ( 41 & 42 Vict. c. 68), which would otherwise require "the issue of a writ of summons to that bishop of a see in England who having been longest bishop of a see in England has not previously become entitled to such writ". It does not apply to the five sees of

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, Durham or

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, which are always represented in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. The act was passed half a year after the Bishops and Priests (Consecration and Ordination of Women) Measure 2014 authorised the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

to appoint women as bishops. In 2024, the Labour Starmer ministry government introduced a bill to Parliament to extend the act's provisions by five more years (until 18 May 2030). The (c. 1) received royal assent on 16 January 2025.

The act in practice

The first female diocesan bishop, and thus the first female Lord Spiritual due to this act, was Rachel Treweek in 2015. Consecrated Bishop of Gloucester on 22 July 2015 and enthroned on 19 September 2015, she joined the Lords on 7 September 2015 with the full title ''The Rt Rev. the Lord Bishop of Gloucester'', and was introduced to the House by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

and the Bishop of London on 26 October 2015. She made her maiden speech on 7 March 2016. Since then, Christine Hardman (2016, retired 2021), Viv Faull (2018), Libby Lane (2019), Guli Francis-Dehqani (2021), Helen-Ann Hartley (2023), Debbie Sellin (2024), and Sophie Jelley (2025) have also entered the Lords due to this Act shortly after becoming diocesan bishops. Therefore 8 out of 22 vacant Lords positions occurring in the ten years of the original Act (May 2015 to May 2025) were filled by women. Without the Act, Treweek and Hardman would only have become Lords Spiritual in late 2021. In addition (and independently of the act), Sarah Mullally entered the Lords ''ex officio'' when appointed Bishop of London in 2018. On 30 July 2024, Baroness Smith of Basildon, the Leader of the House of Lords, introduced a bill to extend the act by 5 years to 18 May 2030. The Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Act 2025 came into force on royal assent on 16 January 2025.

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References

{{Authority control 2015 in Christianity United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2015 Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the House of Lords Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning the Church of England Reform in the United Kingdom Women bishops Women's rights in the United Kingdom 2015 in women's history

The act in practice

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See also

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References