Andy Burnham has pledged to abolish an "archaic" law that bars Catholics from carrying out the prime ministerial role of advising the monarch on senior Church of England appointments, including the Archbishop of Canterbury. As Britain's first openly Catholic prime minister, Burnham's position has exposed a constitutional anomaly rooted in the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829, which he says unfairly prevents him from performing all the functions of his office and which he plans to correct through new legislation.

The 1829 Act, which also equally restricts Jewish office-holders under an 1858 law, threatens offenders with a "high misdemeanour" and permanent disqualification from office, a legacy of religious tensions dating back to Henry VIII's break from Rome and the 1688 "Glorious Revolution". In the meantime, Burnham has delegated the relevant duties to the Lord Chancellor, Alex Norris, while announcing that a Bill will be introduced "at the earliest possible opportunity". The National Secular Society welcomed the move but argued it should go further, with chief executive Stephen Evans calling for a full separation of Church and state.