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Though the main political parties are secular, the formation of the Labour Party was influenced by Christian socialism and by leaders from a nonconformist background, such as Keir Hardie. On the other hand, the Church of England has sometimes been nicknamed “the Conservative Party at prayer”.

Today, some minor parties are explicitly “religious” in ideology: two “Christian” parties—the Christian Party and the Christian Peoples Alliance （CPA）, fielded joint candidates at the 2009 European Parliament elections and increased their share of the vote to come eighth, with 249 493 votes （1.6 percent of total votes cast）, and in London, where the CPA had three councilors, the Christian parties picked up 51 336 votes （2.9 percent of the vote）, up slightly from the 45 038 gained in 2004.

The Church of England is represented in Parliament through 26 Lords Spiritual who sit in the House of Lords along with the secular Lords Temporal. The Church also has the right to draft legislative measures （usually related to religious administration）, through the General Synod, that can be passed into law, but not amended by Parliament. The churches of the Anglican Communion in Ireland and Wales were disestablished in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Prime Minister, regardless of personal beliefs, plays a key role in the appointment of

Church of England bishops, although in July 2007 Gordon Brown proposed reforms of the

Prime Minister’s ability to affect Church of England appointments.

In England and Wales, a significant number of state funded schools are faith schools with the vast majority Christian （mainly either of Church of England or Roman Catholic） though there are also Jewish, Muslim and Sikh faith schools. Faith schools follow the same national curriculum as state schools, though with the added ethos of the host religion. Until 1944 there was no requirement for state schools to provide religious education or worship, although most did so. The Education Act 1944 introduced a requirement for a daily act of collective worship and for religious education but did not define what was allowable under these terms. The act contained provisions to allow parents to withdraw their children from these activities and for teachers to refuse to participate. The Education Reform Act 1988 introduced a further requirement that the majority of collective worship be “wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character”. According to a 2003 report from the Office for Standards in Education, “a third of governing bodies do not fulfil their statutory duties adequately, sometimes because of a failure to pursue thoroughly enough such matters as arranging a daily act of collective worship”. However, in honour of the 400 anniversary of the Authorized King James Version, in 2012, the government is distributing a copy of the Bible to all primary and secondary schools.

Religious studies is an obligatory subject in the curriculum, but tends to aim at providing an understanding of the main faiths of the world rather than at instilling a strictly Christian viewpoint.

Northern Ireland has a highly segregated education system. 95% of pupils attend either maintained （Catholic） schools or controlled schools, which are open to children of all faiths and none, though in practice most pupils are from the Protestant community.

In Scotland, the majority of schools are non-denominational, but separate Roman Catholic schools, with an element of control by the Roman Catholic Church, are provided within the state system.

The Communications Act 2003 requires certain broadcasters in the U.K. to carry a“suitable quantity and range of programmes” dealing with religion and other beliefs, as part of their public service broadcasting. Prominent examples of religious programming include theBBC television programme Songs of Praise , aired on a Sunday evening with an average weekly audience of 2.5 million, and the Thought for the Day slot on BBC Radio 4. Channels also offer documentaries on, or from the perspective of a criticism of organised religion. A significant example is Richard Dawkins’ two-part Channel 4 documentary, The Root of all Evil? . Open disbelief of, or even mockery of organised religion, is not regarded as a taboo in the British media, though it has occasionally provoked controversy. British comedy has a history of parody on the subject of religion.

Ecumenical rapprochement has gradually developed between Christian denominations but religious tensions still exist.

In the early 21st century, the Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 made it an offence in England and Wales to incite hatred against a person on the grounds of their religion. The common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel were abolished with the coming into effect of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 on 8 July 2008.

There being no strict separation of church and state in the United Kingdom, public officials may in general display religious symbols in the course of their duties—for example, turbans. Chaplains are provided in the armed forces and in prisons.

Although School uniform codes are generally drawn up flexibly enough to accommodate compulsory items of religious dress, some schools have banned wearing the crucifix, arguing that wearing a crucifix is not a requirement of Christianity, and that necklaces themselves are banned as well, not just crucifixes.

Some polls have shown that public opinion in the United Kingdom generally tends towards a suspicion or outright disapproval of radical or evangelical religiosity, though moderate groups and individuals are rarely subject to injurious treatment.

Some churches have warned that the Equality Act 2010 could force them to go against their faith when hiring staff. In 2011 a British High Court held that the laws of the U.K. “do not include Christianity” when banning Christian foster care.

● The Queen is the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, with the Archbishops of Canterbury and York below her.

● The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland presides over theannual Assembly, but does not lead, the Church of Scotland.

● The Primus of Scotland is the presiding bishop of the Scottish Episcopal Church.

● The Archbishop of Westminster is the leader of the Roman Catholic bishops of England and Wales.

● The de facto head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is the most senior archbishop, currently Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien, Archbishop and Metropolitan of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

● The Primate of All Ireland exercises his ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Northern Ireland as well as the Republic of Ireland.

● The Archbishop of Wales is one of the six diocesan bishops of the Church in Wales, chosen by his colleagues to hold the higher designation in addition to his own diocese.

● The Chief Rabbi is the title of the leader of Orthodox Judaism in the Commonwealth.

● The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland presides over, but does not lead, the Church.

● The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by the Europe Area Presidency. The current area president is Elder Erich W. Kopischke with Elder Gérald J. Caussé and Elder José A. Teixeira as first and second counselors respectively.