A Labour MP has had to return to parliament to be sworn in again a week after he protested against pledging allegiance to the king as he took the oath. Clive Lewis, a prominent supporter of Britain becoming a republic, returned after parliamentary authorities told him he might not be able to speak in the Commons, vote or receive a salary, and could even face a byelection if legal action was taken against him under the Parliamentary Oaths Act. The Norwich South MP did not refer to “his heirs and successors” after a mention of the king when he said during a swearing in last week: “I take this oath under protest and in the hope that one day my fellow citizens will democratically decide to live in a republic.
“Until that time I do solemnly, sincerely and truly declare and affirm that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, according to law.” Lewis said on X on Tuesday: “After omitting to swear allegiance to King Charles’ ‘heirs and successors’ last week, I’ve had to take the oath again in order to sit in the House of Commons. “The majority of the public are committed to democracy, and so I hope one day MPs can swear an oath based on those values.”
He also posted a photo of a letter he received from the House of Commons Journal Office, which said his omission of part of the oath meant there was “doubt about whether the manner in which you made the affirmation is legally valid”. “If I had not re-sworn the oath, then based on a law from 1866, I could be fined, subjected to legal action, and my seat ‘shall be vacated in the same manner as if [I] were dead,’” he added. “This should change, so MPs have the choice to swear allegiance to our constituents and democracy.” The anti-monarchy campaign group Republic said Lewis had been subjected to “disgraceful treatment”. “Being forced to swear a nonsense oath to do the job he was elected to do is appalling,” added Graham Smith, the chief executive of Republic. The leader of Northern Ireland’s Social Democratic and Labour party, Colum Eastwood, last week said he was making his oath “under protest” and that his true allegiance was to the “people of Derry and the people of Ireland”. His colleague Claire Hanna prefaced it in Irish and English when she was sworn in, saying: “In friendship and in hope of a reconciled new Ireland, my allegiance is to the people of Belfast South and Mid Down & I say these words in order to serve them.” The Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, had been prepared to sit for two hours on Tuesday to allow MPs to swear in. He adjourned the session after about 36 minutes, with the remaining handful of MPs who are yet to be sworn in expected to do so on Wednesday afternoon before the king’s speech debate.