The Oaths Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 46) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom providing that all required oaths (including the oath of allegiance taken to the Sovereign, required in order to sit in Parliament) may be solemnly affirmed rather than sworn to God.Church and State in 21st Century Britain: The Future of Church Establishment (ed. R. M. Morris: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), p. 21. The act was the culmination of a campaign by the noted atheist and secularist MP Charles Bradlaugh to take his seat.

Subsequent developments The whole act by section 7(1) of, and part I of the schedule to, the Oaths Act 1978, which came into force on 30 June 1978.

See also Oaths Act

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References

External links

Hansard, Second Reading of the Oaths Bill, 14 March 1888 Hansard, Third Reading of the Oaths Bill, 9 August 1888