On 19 July 2017, a bill, the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act Bill requiring the Secretary of State to issue regulations amending the Civil Partnership Act, so that opposite-sex couples may enter into civil partnerships was introduced by Tim Loughton as a private members bill through the Ballot of private members. The bill was passed by Parliament on 15 March 2019. The bill received Royal Assent on 26 March 2019. The legislation went into effect on 26 May 2019. Section 2 of the Act required the Secretary of State to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by 31 December 2019, so that people of the opposite sex could enter into civil partnerships. The regulations came into effect on 2 December 2019, the date upon which opposite-sex couples could register their intent to form a civil partnership. This expansion of civil partnerships to opposite-sex couples applied only in England and Wales, and not Scotland or Northern Ireland.