Poll Shows a majority favour an end to Church and Monarch Link

A new poll carried out by the Communicate Research shows that a majority of MPs are in favour of ending the historic link between the Church of England and the State.

The result is not surprising as both politicians and Christians appear to have growing interest in reforming church-state links. In 2002, the Evangelical Alliance first launched an inquiry on the subject. Last year the Fabian Society called for a shake-up in relations between church and state.

Researchers quizzed 106 Labour MPs, 63 Conservatives, and 32 from smaller parties. The figures from Communicate Research show that 57% of a representative sample of members are in favour of dis-establishment.

The data was also weighted to reflect the distribution of parties in the House of Commons. There was an even greater majority in favour of dis-establishment among Labour MPs and those from the smaller parties than the Conservatives.

According to the traditional practice of United Kingdom, the Queen is officially both the supreme governor of the state and the church. It is regarded by many as anomaly.

United Kingdom is one of the most powerful countries in the Western hemisphere and has tried hard to maintain the long standing heritage of Christianity. Particularly, the unique constitutional position of the Queen may have reflected that her governance should go in parallel with Christian heritage.

Recently, Tony Blair's decision to appoint gay clergyman Canon Jeffrey John as the Dean of St Albans drew criticism from church traditionalists. There is a clear divide between the values of the church and the government.

Respected figures such as former Archbishop of the African Anglican Church, Desmond Tutu have also called for reform of the way that the Archbishop of Canterbury is appointed, and call for recognition that such decisions effect the whole Anglican communion, not just the Church of England.

37% of all MPs believed dis-establishment would happen in the next 10 years.