Proposed amendments to oath There have been several private members' bills in recent years concerning the parliamentary oath. None have been successful. The following have occurred since the passing of the Oaths Act 1978:
Democratic Oaths Bill 1987-88137 (Tony Benn) 21 July 1988 Presentation and first reading
Parliamentary Declaration Bill 1997-98138 (Tony Benn) 13 January 1998 Presentation and First Reading:
Parliamentary Oaths (Amendment) proposed Bill 1997-98139 (Kevin McNamara) 29 July 1998 Motion for leave to introduce a Bill. Negatived on division (137 to 151):
Parliamentary Oath (Amendment) proposed bill 1999-2000140 (Kevin McNamara) 14 November 2000 Motion for leave to introduce a Bill. Negatived on Division (129 to 148): A Motion to introduce a bill entitled "Treason Felony, Act of Settlement and Parliamentary Oath Bill" was moved by Kevin McNamara on 19 December 2001. It did not progress further than its
first reading.
Republican parliamentarians Republicans have expressed opposition to a compulsory oath made to an unelected monarch. •
Tony Benn in 1992 stated, when he took the oath, "As a dedicated republican, I solemnly swear ...". After the 1997 election, "As a committed republican, under protest, I take the oath required of me by law, under the Parliamentary Oaths Act of 1866, to allow me to represent my constituency ..." Later, he stated, "When one looks at the oaths of a Privy Counsellor, a Member of Parliament and the Sovereign at the coronation, they throw an interesting light on the obligations by which we are bound. The reality is that nobody takes an oath to uphold democracy in Britain. The Queen takes an oath to govern the country and uphold the rights of the bishops. We take an oath to the Queen. Nobody in the House takes an oath to uphold democracy in Britain." Tony Benn's
Commonwealth of Britain Bill proposed that MPs and other officials swear oaths to a Constitution rather than the Crown. •
Kevin McNamara stated: "The era in which it was thought to be appropriate for legislators to set a political or religious test for those deemed acceptable to enter the parliamentary club has long since passed.[...] The only test for inclusion and membership of this House should be the will of the electorate, freely expressed." •
Dennis Skinner stated, "I solemnly swear that I will bear true and faithful allegiance to the Queen when she pays her income tax". He is also alleged to have added "and all who sail in her" to the oath, implying he was referring to
HMS Queen Elizabeth rather than the monarch herself. •
Tony Banks was seen with his fingers crossed when he took the oath in 1997. •
Colum Eastwood of the
Irish nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party stated in 2019, "Under protest and in order to represent my constituency, I do solemnly[...] My true allegiance is to the people of Derry and the people of Ireland." • Also in 2019,
SNP member
Steven Bonnar visibly crossed his fingers during the affirmation. He also added to the official text "I take this oath to ensure that I can represent the people of Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill in Scotland". Some other SNP members also added similar statements to the oath's wording. • In 2024,
Labour member
Clive Lewis prefaced his oath by "I take this oath under protest and in the hope that one day my fellow citizens will democratically decide to live in a republic until that time..."
Parliamentary According to "The Parliamentary Oath" even if the entire country were to vote in a general election for a party whose manifesto pledge was to remove the monarchy, it would be impossible by reason of the present oath, and current acts of Parliament, for such elected MPs to take their seats in the House of Commons, or be raised to the House of Lords, without taking the Oath of Allegiance to the ruling monarch, and to his heirs, and successors. The
Scottish Socialist Party, who advocate the abolition of the monarchy have made a number of protests during their Oaths of Allegiance in the Scottish Parliament. Their former leader
Tommy Sheridan swore an oath of allegiance to the Queen with a clenched fist in 1999,
Rosie Kane held her own protest during the oath ceremony, during which she swore allegiance with the words "My oath is to the people" written on her raised hand,
Colin Fox sang
Robert Burns' "A Man's A Man for A' That" at his protest, before being moved to the end of the queue by presiding officer Sir
David Steel.
Pressure groups Campaign group
Republic also challenges the oath of allegiance. Represented by human rights lawyer
Louise Christian, their campaign is seeking to change the law so that both MPs and others required to take the oath can swear allegiance to the country and people, rather than the monarchy: "It is vital we challenge offensive and discriminatory oaths of allegiance – if our elected MPs ignore our calls we'll take this issue to court."
Sinn Féin The Irish republican party
Sinn Féin follows a
policy of abstaining from the House of Commons; this is because its members refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the British Parliament as a body that legislates for Northern Ireland. The party also rejects the sovereignty of the British Crown in Northern Ireland, and as a result, even if its members wished to take up their seats, they would likely refuse to take the oath, and thereby would forfeit their seats and become liable to a fine of £500, recoverable by action in the High Court of Justice. It is unknown whether Sinn Féin MPs would reconsider their policy of
abstentionism if the oath were abolished, or if a new oath or pledge were adopted without any mention of the monarch or the Crown. ==See also==