History will be made today as the first female Lord Spiritual takes her place on the Bishops’ Benches in the House of Lords.

The Rt Rev Rachel Treweek, Bishop of Gloucester, will be introduced in the House of Lords this afternoon. Following the Lords Spiritual (Women) Bill which passed earlier this year, Bishop Rachel joins the other 25 Lords Spiritual following the retirement of the Bishop of Leicester in July.

Women first entered the House of Lords in 1958 but since then the Lords Spiritual Benches have been the only part of Parliament reserved for men, so this is long overdue.

WATCH Chair Hilary Cotton said, “At long last we have achieved “votes for women bishops”. Bishop Rachel will make an impact in the House of Lords merely by having a female voice speaking as a Bishop. But more importantly, all the Bishops in the House of Lords can now speak with credibility about gender issues. WATCH looks forward to Bishops speaking up loud and clear whenever women continue to be discriminated against unfairly.”