The Green Party has set out plans to formally separate the Church of England from the state, in a move that would bring an end to nearly five centuries of constitutional history dating back to Henry VIII.
Party policy documents outline a series of measures that would take effect should the Greens win the next General Election. Under the proposals, the Prime Minister would no longer play a role in appointing the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Church would become a fully self-governing institution. The 26 Church of England bishops who currently sit in the House of Lords — known as the Lords Spiritual — would lose their seats, and the Church’s representative role in the House of Commons, presently held by Labour MP Marsha de Cordova, would be abolished.
The policy documents state that “no person shall hold office in the state, or be excluded from any such office, by virtue of their or their spouse’s membership or non-membership of any religion or denomination of religion.”
Disestablishment would represent one of the most significant constitutional changes in modern British history. The Church of England was established as the nation’s official church through the Act of Supremacy in 1534, when Henry VIII broke with Rome. The monarch remains its supreme governor to this day, and Church law forms part of the law of the land in England and Wales. Several other European nations, including Iceland, Denmark and Malta, maintain an established church, though the Church in Wales and the Church of Scotland were both separated from the state during the 1920s.
The announcement arrives against a backdrop of shifting public attitudes toward religion in Britain. Polling published this week found that only 39 per cent of Britons consider the UK to be a Christian country, with half of those surveyed saying Britain is no longer Christian and 13 per cent believing it never was. However, 52 per cent of the 2,000 adults surveyed said moving away from the country’s Christian roots would be harmful to future generations, and 58 per cent said Christianity still had something positive to offer in terms of how Britain is governed.
There are also some indicators of renewed public interest in faith. Data from NielsenIQ BookData showed that Bible sales rose by 19 per cent last year, reaching their highest level since 1998.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss offered a pointed response to the proposals, saying: “You have to be an Islamo-Commie nutjob to conclude Britain’s problem is too much Christianity.”
Scholars have offered more measured perspectives on the question. The former Bishop of London, Lord Chartres, has previously argued that the Church of England is already “the most disestablished church in Europe,” noting that despite being responsible for 45 per cent of all Grade I listed buildings in England, its clergy receive comparatively little public funding. Dr Jonathan Chaplin, a specialist in Christian political theology, has suggested that growing secularisation and falling congregation numbers have already placed the Church’s role as the “church of the nation” under considerable strain.
Whether the proposals gain broader political traction will depend in part on how other parties respond ahead of the next General Election.
