The Ecclesiastical Committee is a statutory joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created by the Church of England Assembly (Powers) Act 1919. Its role to review Church of England measures submitted to Parliament by the Legislative Committee of the General Synod, and to advise on whether or not they should be approved by Parliament. The committee has 30 members. The Lord Speaker appoints 15 members from the House of Lords, and the Speaker of the House of Commons appoints 15 MPs. Members are appointed to serve for the duration of a parliament.
The names of the members for the current parliament have recently been added to the UK Parliament website, although there is one vacancy for a member of the House of Lords. The members are listed below the fold.
The chair of the committee is Baroness Butler-Sloss.
Members from the House of Commons
| Name | Party | Constituency |
| Catherine Atkinson MP | Labour | Derby North |
| Juliet Campbell MP | Labour | Broxtowe |
| Tom Collins MP | Labour | Worcester |
| Jonathan Davies MP | Labour | Mid Derbyshire |
| Marsha De Cordova MP | Labour | Battersea |
| Patricia Ferguson MP | Labour | Glasgow West |
| Zöe Franklin MP | Liberal Democrat | Guildford |
| Danny Kruger MP | Conservative | East Wiltshire |
| Luke Myer MP | Labour | Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland |
| Dr Al Pinkerton MP | Liberal Democrat | Surrey Heath |
| David Smith MP | Labour | North Northumberland |
| Rebecca Smith MP | Conservative | South West Devon |
| Sarah Smith MP | Labour | Hyndburn |
| Dan Tomlinson MP | Labour | Chipping Barnet |
| Martin Vickers MP | Conservative | Brigg and Immingham |
Members from the House of Lords
| Name | Party or affiliation | Type |
| The Rt Hon the Baroness Butler-Sloss GBE | Crossbench | Life peer |
| The Earl of Cork and Orrery | Crossbench | Excepted Hereditary |
| The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC | Crossbench | Life peer |
| The Baroness Eaton DBE DL | Conservative | Life peer |
| The Lord Faulkner of Worcester | Labour | Life peer |
| The Lord Glenarthur DL | Conservative | Excepted Hereditary |
| The Lord Griffiths of Burry Port | Labour | Life peer |
| The Baroness Harris of Richmond DL | Liberal Democrat | Life peer |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Jones | Labour | Life peer |
| The Lord Lisvane KCB DL | Crossbench | Life peer |
| The Baroness McIntosh of Hudnall | Labour | Life peer |
| The Lord Shinkwin | Conservative | Life peer |
| The Rt Hon the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean | Labour | Life peer |
| The Rt Hon the Lord Taylor of Holbeach CBE | Conservative | Life peer |
Is the vacancy for a member from the House of Lords being left open for the time being with a view, perhaps, to it being filled by Lord Evans of Weardale when he has completed his task of chairing the CNC for the see of Canterbury?
How significant is it that there are now only 7 Conservative members? Presumably this in part simply reflects the balance of MPs in the Commons following the Labour victory. But at a time when the CofE is under mounting pressure from public and politicians over safeguarding, same-sex marriage etc, it now has far fewer natural defenders of establishment on the committee (and many of those are increasingly critical of its stances anyway). Marsha De Cordova, as Second Church Estates Commissioner, is of course a defender of establishment, and Labour MP. Thoughts from anyone who knows the workings of this committee?
Interesting question. I wonder how many “defenders of establishment” there are in the Church?