Yesterday afternoon, 26 October 2026, the Rt Revd Rick Simpson took his seat in the House of Lords.
Bishop Rick swore a parliamentary Oath of Allegiance and was supported in his introduction by the Bishop of Leicester, The Rt Revd Martyn Snow and the Bishop of Hereford, The Rt Revd Richard Jackson.
Currently, there are around 800 members of the House of Lords, with 26 seats reserved for Church of England bishops, known as the Lords Spiritual. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York alongside the Bishops of London (currently vacant), Durham and Winchester are automatically granted a seat while the remaining 21 places are allocated to other diocesan bishops across the Church of England.
Speaking on his introduction, Bishop Rick said: “It is a great honour to have been introduced to the House of Lords, where I will – with my colleagues – seek to bring a Christian perspective to the important and complex matters which are considered there, and to help ensure that the concerns of people in our region are heard.”
You can watch Bishop Rick’s introduction to the Lords here: