Appointment Of Archbishops And Bishops

EDM number 1653 in 1993-94, proposed by Tony Benn on 25/10/1994.

That this House is of the opinion that it is quite wrong that the Prime Minister, who is not required by law to be an Anglican, or even a Christian, should retain any power over Church of England appointments, in the name of a monarch whose commitment to that church, though required by law, may be purely formal in character; and that the Church of England should be free to choose its own leaders without any political intervention or influence; and calls upon the Prime Minister and the Archbishop of Canterbury to put forward proposals that would allow the new Archbishop of York, and all future archbishops and bishops to be appointed by, and from within, the Church, under arrangements to be determined by the General Synod.

This motion has been signed by a total of 31 MPs.