Fury as ‘political activist’ bishops in House of Lords vote with Government just five times in the last year
BISHOPS in the House of Lords voted with the government in whipped votes just five times last year, The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
While they voted against the government 276 times in 2022/23.
This means they rebelled against No10's laws 98 per cent of the time, according to House of Lords research.
The shocking stat comes as the clergy are poised to mount a new war on Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill in Parliament’s unelected Chamber.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has previously branded the plan to deport illegal immigrants “morally unacceptable”.
Some 26 bishops and archbishops have seats in the House of Lords.
Most rarely turn up to vote.
But in 2022/23 they voted against the government 276 times and with the government just five times.
The stats only relate to "whipped" votes - these are votes where the government has a position and asks peers to vote a certain way.
This means bishops only backed the PM 2 per cent of the time.
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During the New Labour years, bishops were far more likely to back the government - reaching a high of 84 per cent in 2000/2001.
But it declined during the Coalition and then the Tory years.
Tory MP Chris Loder said : “These bishops are clearly political activists who wear mitres.
“These stats show they hardly ever turn up to vote in the House of Lords, and when they do, it’s nearly always to vote against the government.
“These unelected Lord Bishops vote against efforts to tackle illegal migration, but they are out of touch with ordinary Brits.
“They must not try to stop this Bill. Otherwise they may find that calls to reform the House of Lords will grow to a deafening cry.”
Tory MP Bob Seely said: “These muddle-headed bishops may be in tune with the leftwing elites, but they are out of tune with everyone else.
“They should stop their naive virtue signalling and respect the fact that Rishi and the Conservatives speak for the people of Britain on this issue.
“There is nothing moral about supporting illegal immigration.
“There is nothing moral about letting thousands of single men from developing world countries pay organised crime to get them a one-way ticket to the UK.
“There is nothing moral about spending millions every day on housing illegal immigrants.
“If the bishops vote against the Rwanda Bill it just shows how out of touch these foolish men are.”
Rishi Sunak has warned unelected peers not to defy the “will of the people” by killing the Bill with amendments and delays.
A Church of England spokesperson said: “Bishops are not politicians. They take their roles as unwhipped and independent members of a revising chamber seriously.
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“They don’t vote often, but when they do they vote on amendments to improve legislation, not for party-political reasons.
“They are guided by Christian values, not party politics.”