The Church of England has selected Sarah Mullally as the inaugural woman leader of the Church of England, with the government confirming the 106th archbishop of Canterbury shortly after a year since the departure of Justin Welby following a safeguarding controversy.
This represents the inaugural instance an leader of the Anglican church has been chosen since the Church of England opened the episcopate to women in 2014.
The archbishop is regarded as the religious head of the Anglican church worldwide and also possesses a seat in the House of Lords.
The Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York took on most of the responsibilities in the interim, and was one of the voting members of the committee tasked with appointing the new leader.
The appointments commission had to approve the selection by a two-thirds majority vote. After agreement, in line with tradition, the procedure includes submitting a name to the prime minister – in this case Keir Starmer and then passed to the monarch.
Mullally will not legally take on the role until a electoral confirmation in January, with an enthronement service scheduled afterward, after homage is rendered to the monarch.
