The Government will introduce the bill to remove restrictions preventing Catholics from advising the King on Church appointments on September 15, according to The Times. The Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill will be the first bill of Andy Burnham’s Government.
The bill had originally been announced last week following Burnham transferring his constitutional responsibility to advise on Church appointments to the Lord Chancellor, Alex Norris. Burnham, who is Catholic, is currently constitutionally ineligible to do so.
Burnham had announced the move on September 10 in order to “bring to the House’s attention steps the Government is taking regarding Church appointments”. Restrictions set out in the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and the Jews Relief Act 1858 forbid those who profess Catholicism or Judaism from advising the monarch on appointments to the Church of England and Church of Scotland.
Burnham said in his statement: “It is, however, unacceptable for there to be a legislative bar against people of any faith performing all the functions of my office. The Government will therefore introduce a bill at the earliest possible opportunity to correct this antiquated and archaic anomaly.”
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, a practising Catholic and former Conservative MP, came out against the change, arguing that the privilege should be reserved for professing Anglicans.
“The fact that Catholics and members of the Jewish faith may not make appointments to the Church of England is entirely sensible. It is the established Church, and ministers ought to make these appointments,” he said.
“Indeed, they should take the power back from the ridiculous and long-winded committee that currently does it. But it should be Anglican ministers who do it, not Catholic ones. So, if the law is to be changed, it should be to limit it purely to members of the Anglican Church and not allow people like me to interfere in the appointments within another Church.
“It would be wrong, and the law has always made sense since the time of Catholic emancipation. It is not a grave injustice; it’s just common sense.”
Burnham, who dissents from the Church on a number of issues, nevertheless credited much of his political formation to the Church. In 2012, he reflected on what he used to read in the Catechism as “the enfranchisement of it on Earth was the Labour Party”.
In October 2025, MP for Brentford and Isleworth Ruth Cadbury asked for an equalities impact assessment on the provisions pertaining to the restrictions. MP for Torfaen and then-Minister for the Cabinet Office Nick Thomas-Symonds responded that the Government recognised the historical restrictions and would keep the matter under review, but “given other pressing issues, this is not a current priority.”
