Manner of taking the oath or making the affirmation required by law

8.26The ordinary form and manner of administering and taking the oath are prescribed by the Oaths Act 1978, s 1, which allows for the oath to be administered ‘in any lawful manner’. This means that Members of either House may swear on any holy text they request. Under the Act the person taking the oath holds the holy text in their uplifted hand, and says or repeats after the officer administering the oath the words, ‘I swear by Almighty God that ….’ followed by the words of the oath prescribed by law.

By law the oath or affirmation must be made in English1 but Members may, if they wish, subsequently repeat it in another language. For swearing in following the General Election in 2017, oath and affirmation cards were made available in Cornish, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, Ulster Scots and Welsh in addition to English. The oath may be repeated in any language and, following the 2017 General Election, one Member repeated it in Urdu and another in Scots Doric.

Members of either House may also take the oath with uplifted hand in the form and manner in which an oath is usually administered in Scotland.2

Under the Oaths Act 1978, s 5, Members or Lords who object to being sworn may make a solemn affirmation instead of taking an oath.3