Lords Spiritual

The Archbishops of Canterbury and York, and 24 diocesan bishops of the Church of England sit in the House of Lords, and are known as the Lords Spiritual.
The Bishops of London, Durham and Winchester always have seats; the other 21 seats are filled by the remaining bishops in order of seniority.

The procedure for these 21 seats has now been amended by the Lords Spiritual (Women) Act which received the Royal Assent on 26 March 2015. Essentially, for a period of 10 years, the most senior eligible female bishop at any time will fill a vacant Lords Spiritual seat in preference to the most senior eligible male bishop.

The Bishops of Sodor and Man and of Gibraltar are not eligible as their sees are not part of the United Kingdom.

The Bishop of Sodor and Man is an ex officio member of the Legislative Council, one of the two houses of the Isle of Man Parliament.

The Church of England in Parliament website maintains a list here.

Bishops with seats in the House of Lords

  See Name date of birth became diocesan bishop introduced to the House
Archbishops
Canterbury Justin Welby 6 Jan 1956 2011 2011 (as Bishop of Durham)
26 Feb 2013 (as Archbishop of Canterbury)
  York Stephen Cottrell 31 Aug 1958 2010 25 Mar 2014 (as Bishop of Chelmsford)
22 Oct 2020 (as Archbishop of York)
Three senior bishops London Sarah Mullally 26 Mar 1962 2018 24 May 2018
  Durham vacant      
  Winchester Philip Mounstephen 13 Jul 1959 2018 (Truro) 12 Dec 2013 (as Bishop of Winchester)
21 other diocesan bishops Worcester John Inge 26 Feb 1955 2008 25 Jun 2012
  Oxford Stephen Croft 29 May 1957 2009 14 Oct 2013 (as Bishop of Sheffield)
19 Jul 2016 (as Bishop of Oxford)
  St Albans Alan Smith 14 Feb 1957 2009 4 Nov 2013
  Lincoln Stephen Conway 22 Dec 1957 2011 7 Jul 2014 (as Bishop of Ely)
21 Nov 2023 (as Bishop of Lincoln)
  Southwark Christopher Chessun 5 Aug 1956 2011 15 Dec 2014
  Leeds Nicholas Baines 13 Nov 1957 2011 5 Feb 2015
  Gloucester Rachel Treweek 4 Feb 1963 2015 26 Oct 2015
  Chichester Martin Warner 24 Dec 1958 2012 15 Jan 2018
  Bristol Viv Faull 20 May 1955 2018 23 Oct 2018
  Derby Libby Lane 8 Dec 1966 2019 2 Jul 2019
  Manchester David Walker 30 May 1957 2013 7 Sept 2020
  Chelmsford Guli Francis-Dehqani 18 June 1966 2021 1 Nov 2021
  Guildford Andrew Watson 16 Jul 1961 2105 9 Feb 2022
  St Edmundsbury & Ipswich Martin Seeley 29 May 1954 2015 21 Mar 2022
  Southwell & Nottingham Paul Williams 16 Jan 1968 2015 13 June 2022
  Leicester Martyn Snow 20 Dec 1968 2016 8 Nov 2022
  Lichfield Michael Ipgrave 18 Apr 1958 2016 20 Feb 2023
  Sheffield Pete Wilcox 1961 2017 14 Mar 2023
  Newcastle Helen-Ann Hartley 28 May 1973 2023 26 Oct 2023
  Norwich Graham Usher 11 Sep 1970 2019 26 Oct 2023
  Hereford Richard Jackson 22 Jan 1961 2020 23 Jan 2024

Bishops awaiting seats, in order of seniority.

See Name became diocesan bishop date of birth
Peterborough Deborah Sellin 2023 1 Oct 1964
Chester Mark Tanner 2020 Nov 1970
Portsmouth Jonathan Frost 2022 26 Sep 1964
Salisbury Stephen Lake 2022 17 Dec 1963
Rochester Jonathan Gibbs 2022 6 May 1961
Bath & Wells Michael Beasley 2022 9 Jan 1968
Liverpool John Perumbalath 2023 23 May 1966
Blackburn Philip North 2023 2 Dec 1966
Birmingham Michael Volland 2023 2 May 1974
Ely vacant    
Carlisle vacant    
Exeter vacant    
Truro vacant    
Coventry vacant