Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally, a former nurse, has been named as the next Archbishop of Canterbury – the first time a woman has been appointed to the role in the Church of England’s history.
The announcement comes almost a year since Justin Welby resigned from the role as spiritual leader of the Church of England (CoE) due to a damning review into its handling of a sexual abuse scandal.
It is the first time an archbishop has been chosen since women were allowed to become bishops in 2014.
The 63-year-old archbishop-designate is married to Eamonn Mullally, with whom she has two children.
Originally from Woking in Surrey, she was the UK’s chief nursing officer from 1999 to 2004.
In 2005, she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire for her contribution to nursing and midwifery.
Before being elected as the 133rd Bishop of London in 2018, she was Bishop of Crediton, a post she held for three years from 2015.
The process for choosing the new archbishop is incredibly secretive as they are selected by the Crown Nominations Commission, a committee chaired by a former director-general of the MI5 security service.
After the group reaches a two-thirds majority on two preferred candidates, the nominations are presented to the prime minister, who selects one to be formally appointed by the King.
Candidates must be aged at least 30 and generally younger than 70 and historically they have been people already holding senior leadership roles in ministry in the Church or elsewhere in the Anglican Communion.
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