Defenders of the Anglican establishment often cite as one of its benefits the ‘Bishops’ Bench’ in the House of Lords. This body of 26 prelates installed by historic right in our upper chamber represents, so they say, a Christian voice at the heart of our legislature – a set up unique among modern western democracies. How true are these claims?

Shortly before he died in April of this year, my father Lord Robert Skidelsky commissioned a little research into this question. He asked his invaluable assistant, Attila Mestehazy, to run through all 693 speeches delivered by the reverend Lords between 1 January 2024 and 19 September 2025, looking out especially for words and arguments associated with Christianity. The results were dismaying, if not entirely unexpected. ‘Bible’, ‘gospel’ and ‘Christianity’ each appear in somewhat under one per cent of all bishops’ speeches. ‘Jesus’ appears in three per cent. ‘God’ shows up a bit more often, at six per cent, perhaps indicating an attempt at inter-faith solidarity. ‘Sin’ appears not at all.

It is not that the bishops are morally cold or indifferent. On the contrary, their speeches drip with social concern. Anguish over the ‘most vulnerable’ in our community, particularly ‘minoritised women’, ‘LGBT+ victims’ and those suffering ‘intersecting forms of discrimination’, is richly on display. ‘Mental health’ crops up in almost seven per cent of the bishops’ interventions, ‘wellbeing’ in eight per cent – more than ‘God’ and ‘Jesus’. The Church of England was once the Tory party at prayer. Now it is the welfare state at prayer.

A deeper dive into the 693 speeches confirms the impression of overwhelming secularity. On most issues, the bishops take a position indistinguishable from the left wing of the Labour party, albeit decked out occasionally in Christian rhetoric. …

Read it all in The Spectator