Oath of Allegiance (United Kingdom)

The Oath of Allegiance or Official Oath set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 is required to be taken by various office-holders in the following form:

"I, NAME, do swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God."

Office-holders

The Oath of Allegiance or Official Oath is made by each of the following office-holders as soon as may be after his acceptance of office:

• First Lord of the Treasury
• Chancellor of the Exchequer
• Lord Chancellor
• Lord President of the Council
• Lord Privy Seal
• Secretaries of State
• President of the Board of Trade
• Lord Steward
• Lord Chamberlain
• Earl Marshal
• Master of the Horse
• Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
• Paymaster General
• Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland (since 1999 this post is held, ex officio, by the First Minister of Scotland)
• Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland
• Lord Clerk Register
• Advocate General for Scotland
• Lord Justice Clerk
• First Minister of Wales (since the Government of Wales Act 2006 came into force in May 2007)

The Oath in England is tendered by the Clerk of the Council, and taken in the presence of Her Majesty in Council, or otherwise as Her Majesty shall direct, and in Scotland is tendered by the Lord President of the Court of Session at a sitting of the Court.

Parliamentarians

Under the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866, members of both Houses of Parliament are required to take an Oath of Allegiance upon taking their seat in Parliament.

The usual wording of the oath is:

I ..... swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.

Members who object to swearing the oath are permitted to make a solemn affirmation under the terms of the Oaths Act, 1888:

I ..... do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law.

The oath or affirmation must be taken in English although the Speaker has allowed Members to recite Welsh, Gaelic and Cornish forms in addition.

When the oath is taken, the new member holds a copy of the New Testament or, if Jewish, the Tanakh. Muslims or Sikhs would be sworn in the usual manner except a Qur'an (in an envelope, to avoid it being touched by one not of the faith), or Guru Granth Sahib respectively would be substituted for the Bible. Mohammad Sarwar, a Muslim, took the oath in this way in May 1997.

Religious restrictions in the oath effectively barred individuals of certain faiths (e.g. Roman Catholics, Jews and Quakers) from entering Parliament for many years. The restrictions were lifted by the Oaths Act 1888 after the six-year effort (1880–1886) of the noted atheist Charles Bradlaugh to claim his seat.

Today, members of Sinn Féin elected to represent constituencies in Northern Ireland refuse to take the oath, and are therefore unable to take their seats in Parliament, due to their refusal to swear allegiance to the Queen. It is unknown whether Sinn Féin MPs would take their seats if a new Oath without any mention of the Monarch or the Crown were to be drafted, as abstentionism has taken a unique philosophical direction in the decades since Nationalist MPs began to practice it. However, as recently as 1997 a Sinn Fein MP tried to take his seat, was refused unless he took the Oath and unsuccessfully sued the UK in the European Court of Human Rights (see 'Prior legal challenges' under 'Opposition to the Oath' below).

Section 84 of the Scotland Act 1998 requires Members of the Scottish Parliament to take the Oath of Allegiance at a meeting of the Parliament. Members of the Scottish Government and junior Scottish Ministers are additionally required to take the Official Oath.

Section 20 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 requires members of the National Assembly for Wales to take the oath of allegiance. A Welsh form of the Oath is prescribed by the National Assembly for Wales (Oath of Allegiance in Welsh) Order 1999[1]:

Yr wyf i, yn addo trwy gymorth y Goruchaf y byddaf yn ffyddlon ac yn wir deyrngar i'w Mawrhydi y Frenhines Elizabeth, ei hetifeddion a'i holynwyr, yn ôl y gyfraith, yn wyneb Duw.

The corresponding affirmation is:

Yr wyf i, yn datgan ac yn cadarnhau yn ddifrifol, yn ddiffuant ac yn ddidwyll y byddaf yn ffyddlon ac yn wir deyrngar i'w Mawrhydi y Frenhines Elizabeth, ei hetifeddion a'i holynwyr, yn ôl y gyfraith.

However, since the coming into force of the power-sharing arrangements agreed in the Good Friday Agreement of 1997, there is no longer any requirement for members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to take any Oath of Allegiance nor any other Oath nor is there even any form of voluntary Oath prescribed for those who may wish to swear one.

With the exception of those elected to the NI Assembly, who do not have to swear any oath of allegiance to the Crown; Those elected to the House of Commons, including those to the Scottish Parliament, and Welsh Assembly, that refuse to take the oath or affirmation, are barred from participating in any parliamentary proceedings, and receiving their salaries or allowances.

Judges and Magistrates

Judges and magistrates on being sworn in, are required by various statutes to take two oaths: the oath of allegiance and the judicial oath, (collectively; the judicial oath). Judges of Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh religions can omit the words "I swear by Almighty God" and replace it with an acceptable alternative.

Judges first Oath of Allegiance: "I... do swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God." Judges second Judicial Oath: "I...do swear by Almighty God that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second in the office of..., and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of this realm, without fear or favour, affection or ill will. So help me God.

Magistrates first Oath of Allegiance: "I, ... swear that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign Lady Queen Elizabeth the Second, in the office of Justice of the Peace and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of the Realm without fear or favour, affection or ill will." Magistrates second Judicial Oath: "I ...do swear that I will well and faithfully serve in the office of... and that I will do right to all manner of people without fear or favour, affection or ill-will according to the laws and usages of this realm."

Clergy

Any person being ordained as a priest or deacon of the Church of England, or taking up any "perpetual curacy, lectureship, or preachership", is required by the Clerical Subscription Act 1865 to take an Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy. This is now, by the Promissory Oaths Act 1868, the same as the usual Oath of Allegiance.

Armed forces

All persons enlisting in the British Army and the Royal Marines are required by the Army Act 1955 to attest to the following oath or equivalent affirmation:

I ..... swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will, as in duty bound, honestly and faithfully defend Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, in Person, Crown and Dignity against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of Her Majesty, Her Heirs and Successors, and of the generals and officers set over me. So help me God.

The same oath is made by recruits to the Royal Air Force under the Air Force Act 1955, with the substitution of the words "air officers" for "generals".

No oath of allegiance is sworn by members of the Royal Navy, which is not maintained under an Act of Parliament but by the royal prerogative, or by Royal Marines officers, who unlike their Army counterparts are not enlisted before they are commissioned.

Citizenship ceremonies

The oath of allegiance, with the addition of the words "on becoming a British citizen" (or other type of British national, as appropriate), is also used at citizenship ceremonies, where persons being registered or naturalised in the United Kingdom are required to swear or affirm their allegiance to the Queen, as above, and additionally make a pledge to follow the laws of the country and uphold its democratic values. The applicants are then presented with their certificate of citizenship.

Opposition to the oath

Parliamentary

An Early Day Motion (12th June 2008) to change the Oath of Allegiance, was brought before Parliament by 22 parliamentarians, representing over 1.45 million; English, Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh (British) constituents.

Early Day Motion (#1780) : "That this House recognises that the principal duty of hon. Members is to represent their constituents in Parliament; also recognises that some hon. Members would prefer to swear an oath of allegiance to their constituents and the nation rather than the Monarch; and therefore calls on the Leader of the House to bring forward legislative proposals to introduce an optional alternative Parliamentary oath allowing hon. Members to swear allegiance to their constituents and the nation and to pledge to uphold the law rather than one pledging personal allegiance to the serving Monarch".

EDM signatures: N Baker (Lib: Lewes), J Austin (Lab: Erith & Thamesmead), P Bottomley (Con: Worthing), R Campbell (Lab: Blyth), M Caton (Lab: Gower), M Clapham (Lab: Barnsley & Pennistone) I Davidson (Lab: Glasgow SW) P Flynn (Lab: Newport), A George (Lib: St. Ives), J Goldsworthy (Lib: Falmouth), J Hemming (Lib: Birmingham), M Horwood (Lib: Cheltenham), B Iddon (Lab: Bolton), B Jenkins (Lab: Tamworth), L Jones (Lab: Birminham), C McCafferty (Lab: Calder Valley, A McDonnell (SD&L: Belfast), A McKechin (Lab: Glasgow N), M Oaten (Lib: Winchester), K Purchase (Lab: Wolverhampton), A Simpson (Lab: Nottingham), J Swinson (Lib: Dunbartonshire).

Prior legal challenges

Sinn Fein MP for Mid Ulster, Martin McGuinness, refused to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the British monarch as a result of his Irish republican views having been elected in 1997. He was consequently refused permission to actively take up his position in the House of Commons.

Subsequently McGuiness took the matter to the European Court of Human Rights. The application was deemed inadmissible on the basis that the requirement of an oath of allegiance to a reigning monarch is "reasonably viewed as an affirmation of loyalty to the constitutional principles which support... the workings of representative democracy in the respondent State." McGuiness and other elected Sinn Féin MPs do not participate in the House of Commons to this day, following a policy of Abstentionism.

Pressure groups

Campaign group ‘Republic’ also challenges the oath of allegiance. Represented by a Human rights lawyer Louise Christian, their campaign; (“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.”) is seeking to change the law so MPs etc, can swear allegiance to the country/people, rather than the monarchy.