An Iranian-born refugee could become the first female archbishop of Canterbury.
Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, has emerged as an early front-runner among bookmakers to succeed Justin Welby, who formally stepped down in January.
Ladbrokes and Star Sports have both named her the favourite to become the 106th holder of the role and the first woman in the job’s 1,428-year history.
Bishop Francis-Dehqani has been an outspoken critic of the immigration policy of successive governments.
Earlier this week, she criticised the Prime Minister’s speech in which he said Britain risked “becoming an island of strangers”.
She said: “In the churches and different communities I am a part of, we are not an ‘island of strangers’. Migrants are not ‘strangers’ but friends who fully participate and contribute as we worship, serve and live life together.
“The vast majority have applied through official routes to come here to the UK to live, work and study, and their contributions go far beyond a simple binary GDP evaluation.”
She also criticised the previous government’s Rwanda asylum plan, and attacked Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, after she said that churches were fuelling fake asylum claims.
Bishop Francis-Dehqani’s family fled to Britain when she was 13 following Iran’s Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s. Her brother was shot dead in 1980 and attempts had been made on the lives of her father, an Anglican bishop, and mother before they left.
She was ordained in 1999 and served as bishop of Loughborough from 2017 to 2021 before moving to Chelmsford in 2021.
She is now one of five women among the bookmakers’ front-runners to become the most senior bishop and the spiritual leader of the Church.
Nomination expected by autumn
Earlier this month, the Church of England announced the central members and Anglican Communion representatives of the Canterbury Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), the body charged with nominating a new archbishop.
Its membership was expected to be announced in March, but there appear to have been delays in the selection of representatives from the diocese of Canterbury.
On Tuesday, the Church confirmed that Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, currently the most senior bishop in the Church, would be among the voting members, alongside Graham Usher, the Bishop of Norwich.
It has already been confirmed that the commission will be chaired by Lord Evans of Weardale, a former director general of the MI5 security service.
Candidates for the new archbishop have to be at least 30 years old, and are generally younger than 70. A nomination cannot be made unless it has the support of two-thirds of the total number of CNC voting members in a secret ballot.
The commission is expected to have its first meeting later this month. At least two further meetings will follow in July and September.
It is expected a nomination could be announced for the 106th archbishop of Canterbury by autumn – a year after Mr Welby announced his resignation.
He said on Nov 12 2024 that he was to stand down following failures in handling an abuse scandal involving John Smyth, a barrister and Christian camp leader thought to be the most prolific abuser associated with the Church.
The Church has faced calls to speed up the process of appointing Mr Welby’s successor. Martin Vickers, a Conservative MP, said it had a lot to learn from the Catholic Church’s speedy election of the new Pope.
In past years, those tipped for the role in the early stages have not gone on to lead the Church. Both Mr Welby, archbishop from 2013 to 2025, and Rowan Williams, who held the role from 2002 to 2012, were not on the early list of front-runners.
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