MPs have supported a bill to extend the fast-tracking of women bishops into the House of Lords to increase female representation.
The Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015, introduced following the 2014 decision to allow female bishops, addressed seniority rules that delayed their eligibility for Lords Spiritual seats.
Before 2015, these seats were allocated under the Bishoprics Act 1878, prioritizing senior male bishops. The Act allowed eligible female bishops to take vacant seats ahead of men, ensuring better representation in the Lords.
Since its enactment, six women bishops have joined the Lords, starting with the Bishop of Gloucester in 2015. The new bill extends these provisions until 2030, allowing more time for its impact.
Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds highlighted the significance of the change, noting it corrected the absence of women in prominent church leadership roles from the Lords.
He said: "There are 26 bishops that sit in the House of Lords and before 2015 the process for how and when they sit in the other place was determined solely by the Bishoprics Act 1878.
"Five seats are automatically allocated to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York followed by the bishops of London, Durham and Winchester.
"The remainder were filled on the basis of seniority - in other words, length of tenure.
"In 2014, the General Synod of the Church of England passed legislation to allow women to become bishops for the first time. But because of the rules of seniority, we would have had to wait many years before these first female bishops could have been eligible to receive their writs of summons and become Lords Spiritual.
"That would have created a situation where women were prominently involved in church leadership but were unrepresented in the House of Lords.
"To address this at the request of the church, both Houses passed legislation in 2015 to fast-track female bishops into the House of Lords and the effect of that legislation is that if there's a female diocesan bishop available when a Lords Spiritual seat becomes vacant, she will be appointed to the seat ahead of a male bishop irrespective of seniority."
The bill passed its second reading unopposed and awaits further scrutiny.