Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
A person is not disqualified from being or being elected as a member of the House of Commons merely because he has been ordained or is a minister of any religious denomination.
But a person is disqualified from being or being elected as a member of that House if he is a Lord Spiritual.
Accordingly—
Schedule 1 (which makes amendments consequential on this section) has effect, and
the enactments mentioned in Schedule 2 (which relate to the disqualification of clergy from membership of the House of Commons) are repealed to the extent specified in that Schedule.
This Act may be cited as the House of Commons (Removal of Clergy Disqualification) Act 2001.
Subject to that, this Act extends to Northern Ireland.
Consequential Amendments
In section 1 of the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (disqualification of holders of certain offices and places), in subsection (1), before paragraph (a) insert—.
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In section 16 of the Scotland Act 1998 (exceptions and relief from disqualification from membership of the Parliament), in subsection (1), for paragraph (b) substitute—
In section 36 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (disqualification from membership of the Assembly), in subsection (6) (exception for peers and clergy), for paragraph (b) substitute—
Repeals