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Promise to be loyal to the British monarch

The Oath of Allegiance (Judicial or Official Oath) is a promise to be loyal to the British monarch, and his or her heirs and successors, sworn by certain public servants in the United Kingdom, and also by newly naturalised subjects in citizenship ceremonies. The current standard wording of the oath of allegiance is set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868. Variants of the basic oath of allegiance are also incorporated into a number of other oaths taken by certain individuals.

This oath is generally sworn to the Crown, monarch, sovereign, or regent, as represented by the incumbent king or queen, currently Charles III. This oath also specifies that this same oath to the king, is equally sworn to his "heirs and successors", in the plural, rather than a single heir and successor. This indicates that any oath given to the king is equally given to William, Prince of Wales, Prince George, and all of his heirs and successors to the British throne, in the event that any one of them should accede to the throne. Thus, the pledge of loyalty to the Crown made in the oath does not end at the death of the current monarch. This oath to the king, his heirs and successors is now administered in citizen ceremonies to immigrants becoming naturalized British subjects. Members of the judiciary (justices of the peace, district judges, circuit judges etc.) swear their allegiance to the king and his heirs and successors; police officers in England and Wales pledge their allegiance to the king, but not his heirs and successors. Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) do not swear an oath of allegiance. The PSNI in 2001 replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary, whose members pledged their allegiance to the late Queen Elizabeth II, but not her heirs and successors. The Scottish police have never pledged allegiance. Members of the Privy Council only swear allegiance to the "King's majesty", not to the king's heirs and successors.

The oath of allegiance was performed to King Edgar. By the common law, the oath is due to everyone 12 years of age or older. The oath was certainly in use as of the date of King John's Magna Carta, signed on 15 June 1215. Once the terms had been finalised on 19 June, the rebels again swore allegiance to King John. The later Bill of Rights (1689) included the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown, which was required by Magna Carta to be taken by all crown servants and members of the judiciary. Over the following centuries this evolved into three separate oaths: of supremacy (repudiation of the spiritual or ecclesiastical authority of any foreign prince, person or prelate), allegiance (declaration of fidelity to the Sovereign), and in 1702, abjuration (repudiation of the right and title of descendants of James II to the throne). Oaths of allegiance were exacted from the Lords by Henry IV and Henry VI in 1455 and 1459, and an oath of supremacy was introduced under Henry VIII in 1534. Elizabeth I introduced an Act of Supremacy in 1563 requiring an oath to be taken by all future members of the House of Commons. A new oath of allegiance appeared under James I (prompted by the "Gunpowder Plot") under the Popish Recusants Act 1605 and the Oath of Allegiance Act 1609. This oath required recognition of James I as lawful King and renunciation of the Pope. The 1609 Act required Commons MPs to take the oath of allegiance and of supremacy, but this was not a "parliamentary" oath, as it was not taken in Parliament, and there were no consequences if not sworn.

After the Restoration, oaths of supremacy and allegiance were imposed upon all MPs and peers in Parliament. The Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy Act 1688, passed after the Glorious Revolution installed William III and Mary II as monarchs, replaced the old oaths of supremacy and allegiance with shorter ones in almost the modern form. The deposed King James II died in exile in 1701, and King Louis XIV of France and the Jacobite adherents of the Stuart claim proclaimed James II's son rightful king James III. The Act of Settlement 1701, quickly passed in response, substantially extended the old oaths, while the Security of the Succession, etc. Act 1701 added an oath of abjuration of "the Person pretending to be and taking upon himself the Stile and Title of King of England by the Name of James the Third". This oath pledged support for the Hanoverian succession and for the exclusion of the Stuarts.

The Oaths Act 1858 (21 & 22 Vict. c. 48) prescribed a single form of the oath in place of the former three. This single form retained a declaration of allegiance and a promise to defend the Hanoverian succession. A declaration relating to the supremacy of the sovereign was also included and the oath continued to be made ’on the true faith of a Christian’ However, both of these latter elements disappeared from the revised version of the single oath that was subsequently prescribed in the Parliamentary Oaths Act 1866, which repealed much of the earlier pieces of legislation insofar as they related to oaths taken by Members of Parliament. Finally, in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 a further curtailment to the oath was made, thereby establishing the form of the oath still used today. The direct religious content has disappeared along with the declarations relating to the supremacy of the sovereign. In its current form, the oath conforms fairly closely to the medieval (feudal) oath of allegiance.

After the general right to affirm was guaranteed in 1888, the Oaths Act 1909 introduced a change to the ordinary method of taking oaths, which provided for oaths to be sworn on the Bible: in case of a Christian, on the New Testament, and in the case of a Jew on the Old Testament. This Act also established the usual form of taking the oath, with the phrase "I swear by Almighty God that ". Section 1 of the Oaths Act 1888 (on the right to affirm) was replaced in the Administration of Justice Act 1977. The Oaths Act 1961 extended the 1888 Act, but did not apply to parliamentary oaths. All of the provisions in the Oaths Acts of 1838, 1888, 1909, 1961 and 1977 were repealed and consolidated in the Oaths Act 1978, although the form of wording of the oath set out in the 1868 Act was preserved. The 1978 Oaths Act contains provisions relating to the manner of administering the oath, the option of swearing with uplifted hand, the validity of oaths, the making of solemn affirmations and the form of affirmation. The current Oath of Allegiance or Official Oath is set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868.

After a general election, the new Parliament is opened by the Royal Commission in the House of Lords, in the presence of Members of both Houses, after which the House of Commons meets to elect a Speaker and the Lords commences oath taking. Following the Demise of the Crown (the death or abdication of the current monarch), all Members of Parliament and members of the House of Lords have the opportunity to take an oath of allegiance to the new Sovereign at the first meeting of Parliament under a new monarch. The House votes an Address to the Crown in response to the official notification of the previous monarch's demise, expressing condolences upon the death of the previous monarch and pledging loyalty to his or her successor. After the death of Elizabeth II, members of both houses of parliament met the following day to pay tribute. Senior members of parliament took the oath to King Charles III on Saturday 10 September. Other members of parliament were offered the opportunity to take the oath to the new sovereign but it was confirmed that this was not a formal requirement.

At the start of a new Parliament, after the Commons Speaker has taken the oath, MPs come forward one by one to swear or affirm at the despatch box, in order of seniority. Father of the House (longest continuously serving member). Cabinet ministers. Shadow cabinet ministers. Privy counsellors. Other ministers. Other members by seniority. If two or more MPs enter the house at the same election their seniority is determined by the date and/or time they took the oath.

The Principal Clerk of the Table Office at the despatch box offers a choice of affirmation or oath cards to read. The MP takes the oath or affirms, then moves along the Table to the Clerk Assistant and signs the Test Roll, a parchment book headed by the oath and affirmation which is kept by the Clerk of the House of Commons.

After the initial swearing in process, most MPs and Members of the Lords are able to sit and vote in each House. Any remaining MPs or Members of the Lords can take the oath at later sittings. When the majority of MPs and Members of the Lords have been sworn in, both Houses of Parliament are ready to hear the King's Speech at the State Opening starting the business of the session.

MPs who have been elected at a by election are accompanied from the bar of the House by two sponsors. The new Member will have collected a certificate relating to his or her election from the Public Bill Office to hand to the Clerk of the House before taking the oath or making the affirmation.

Section 84 of the Scotland Act 1998 requires Members of the Scottish Parliament to take the Oath of Allegiance at a meeting of the Parliament. Members of the Scottish Government and junior Scottish Ministers are additionally required to take the Official Oath.

Section 23 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 requires members of the Senedd to take the oath of allegiance. A Welsh form of the Oath is prescribed by the National Assembly for Wales (Oath of Allegiance in Welsh) Order 1999:

A notary public seeking admission to the roll in England and Wales must swear the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office, which is prescribed by s. 7 Public Notaries Act 1843.

Any person being ordained as a priest or deacon of the Church of England, or taking up any "perpetual curacy, lectureship, or preachership", is required by the Clerical Subscription Act 1865 to take an Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy. This is now, by the Promissory Oaths Act 1868, the same as the usual Oath of Allegiance. Canon C13 now requires the oath of allegiance to be made by anyone appointed archbishop or bishop, priest or deacon, or to be licensed or admitted to any office in the Church of England.

Alex Salmond of the Scottish National Party, as the first party leader to be sworn into the Scottish Parliament in 2011, before raising his right hand to swear allegiance to the Queen, the SNP leader said: "The Scottish National Party's primary loyalty is to the people of Scotland, in line with the Scottish constitutional tradition of the sovereignty of the people." The Scottish Socialist Party, who advocate the abolition of the monarchy have made a number of protests during their Oaths of Allegiance in the Scottish Parliament. Their former leader Tommy Sheridan swore an oath of allegiance to the Queen with a clenched fist in 1999, Rosie Kane held her own protest during the oath ceremony, during which she swore allegiance with the words "My oath is to the people" written on her raised hand, Colin Fox sang Robert Burns' "A Man's A Man for A' That" at his protest, before being moved to the end of the queue by presiding officer Sir David Steel.

Campaign group Republic also challenges the oath of allegiance. Represented by human rights lawyer Louise Christian, their campaign is seeking to change the law so MPs et al, can swear allegiance to the country and people, rather than the monarchy: "It is vital we challenge offensive and discriminatory oaths of allegiance if our elected MPs ignore our calls we’ll take this issue to court."

The Irish republican party Sinn Féin follows a policy of abstaining from the House of Commons; this is because its members refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the British Parliament, as a body that legislates for Northern Ireland. The party also rejects the sovereignty of the British Crown in Northern Ireland, and as a result, even if its members wished to take up their seats, they would likely refuse to take the oath, and thereby would forfeit their seats and become liable to a fine of £500, recoverable by action in the High Court of Justice. It is unknown whether Sinn Féin MPs would reconsider their policy of abstentionism if the oath were abolished, or if a new oath or pledge were adopted without any mention of the monarch or the Crown.