UK: Catholic Prime Minister Pushes for Reform of a Law That Discriminated Against Catholic and Jewish Politicians
Andy Burnham, the first Catholic prime minister of the UK, raised the issue of a constitutional rule that historically barred Catholics from certain functions. The UK government has officially decided that a Catholic prime minister can exercise all constitutional duties. The decision is part of a broader reform of a law that previously discriminated against Catholic and Jewish politicians. The ruling removes a centuries‑old constitutional relic and normalises Catholic participation in UK political leadership.
15 days ago
The UK government has introduced legislation to remove a longstanding restriction that prevented Catholic and Jewish prime ministers from advising the monarch on appointments to the established churches. The proposed change follows Catholic Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s decision to transfer that responsibility to the Lord Chancellor while the law remains in force.
The Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill would repeal restrictions originating in the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829 and the Jews Relief Act of 1858. Those provisions barred Catholics and Jews from advising the sovereign, directly or indirectly, on appointments to the Church of England or Church of Scotland.
Burnham announced on September 10 that Lord Chancellor Alex Norris would handle his church-appointment responsibilities rather than risk contravening the existing legislation. The government said a person’s religion should not prevent them from exercising part of the constitutional responsibilities of the premiership.
The reform would remove a religious qualification from a prime minister’s duties, but it would not give the officeholder a substantially greater role in choosing Church of England bishops. Since reforms introduced in 2007, the Church’s Crown Nominations Commission has put forward a preferred candidate, whom the prime minister formally recommends to the monarch.
The bill concerns the prime minister, not the Crown. The monarch remains required to be in communion with the Church of England, and the legislation would not change the religious requirements governing succession to the throne.
The restrictions survived the broader easing of barriers to public life for Catholics in 1829 and for Jews in 1858. They drew on Britain’s religious and constitutional history, including the establishment of royal supremacy over the Church of England after the Reformation and the Protestant requirements reinforced by the Act of Settlement of 1701.
The rule applied specifically to Catholics and Jews; it did not bar Hindu Prime Minister Rishi Sunak or atheist Prime Minister Keir Starmer from carrying out the same function. The article also notes that Benjamin Disraeli, who was born Jewish, had been baptized into the Church of England, while Boris Johnson’s Catholic baptism and later Anglican affiliation raised questions about how the restriction applied to him.
The Church of England supports the proposed change, and the National Secular Society had previously urged the government to remove the provisions. The bill leaves the historic relationship between the state, Crown and established church intact while addressing the restriction on a prime minister’s religious grounds.
Religious equality requires equal access to political leadership
If by “equal access” you mean that citizens should not be excluded from political participation or public office merely because of their religion, the claim is consistent with Catholic principles of human dignity and religious freedom. The Church teaches that religious freedom belongs to every person and that civil law should protect religious communities’ participation in public life without discrimination.
But equality of civic rights does not mean that all religions are equally true, nor does it require identical political outcomes or special treatment for every group. Catholic teaching distinguishes equal protection of people’s rights from treating religions as equivalent in religious truth; it also allows a state to recognize a historically influential religion, provided everyone’s religious freedom is safeguarded.
So the more precise formulation is: religious affiliation alone should not bar someone from political leadership, while eligibility may still depend on relevant, religion-neutral qualifications and the common good. The supplied sources support the general principle of nondiscrimination, but do not specify rules for particular offices or constitutional systems.