The Rt Rev Justin Welby announced his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury on 12 November 2024, following criticism in the Makin Review. He said “exact timings” on a successor would be decided once an assessment of his “Constitutional and church responsibilities” had been completed.

This Insight looks at how a new archbishop will be chosen.

Resignation

Under section 4 of the Bishops (Retirement) Measure 1986, an archbishop tenders their resignation to the King (“in a written instrument in the prescribed form”), which is followed by an Order in Council declaring the archbishopric vacant. An Order in Council requires a meeting of the Privy Council, which can be held at relatively short notice.

The process of appointing a successor is likely to take several months. Rowan Williams (now Lord Williams of Oystermouth) announced his resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury in March 2012 but Justin Welby’s appointment was not announced until November 2012. His “election” followed in February 2013 and he was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral in March 2013.

Crown Nominations Commission

The appointment of archbishops and bishops is determined under the Appointment of Bishops Act 1533. Although this legislation confers absolute discretion on the King (who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England), since 1976 the Church has been more directly involved via what is now called the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC).

The CNC is a church-based body, with the Archbishop of Canterbury as chair and the Archbishop of York as vice-chair. The Prime Minister’s Appointments Secretary is an ex-officio (‘by virtue of office’) and non-voting member. The CNC considers vacancies in diocesan bishoprics and candidates for appointments to them.

As Justin Welby has tendered his resignation, he may not attend meetings to consider his successor. Instead, the chair will be “an actual communicant lay member” of the Church of England appointed by the Prime Minister following consultations.

Under Standing Order 141(6) of the General Synod’s Standing Orders, a nomination cannot be made to the Crown to fill a vacant see (the area of a bishop’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction) unless it has received the support of at least two-thirds of the total number of the voting members of the CNC in a secret ballot.

This time, voting members of the CNC will include five representatives from the Churches of the Anglican Communion in five global regions (Asia, The Americas, Africa, Europe, and Oceania) and, in a non-voting capacity, its Secretary General. At least two of the five voting members must be female, and a majority of voting members’ ethnicity must be global majority heritage (the term ‘global majority’ is used by some organisations and individuals to refer to all ethnic groups except White British and other White groups, including White minority ethnic groups).

Having interviewed possible candidates, the CNC must agree upon the name of one candidate for submission to the Prime Minister. It must also agree the name of a second candidate, but with that candidate’s name kept in reserve in case it “becomes impossible to appoint” the first preference.

The Prime Minister’s role

Once the Prime Minister has been provided with a single name by the Crown Nominations Commission, he will ask the nominee if they are willing to become the new Archbishop of Canterbury. If the nominee declines then the Prime Minister has to ask the CNC for the name of its second candidate. The Prime Minister could hypothetically exercise his discretion by rejecting the first nominee, in which case he would also ask the CNC for its second name.

Under section 18 of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 and section 4 of the Jews’ Relief Act 1858, it is not lawful for a Catholic or Jewish Prime Minister to advise the King on Church appointments. Neither restriction, however, applies to Sir Keir Starmer. The advising role would be delegated to another senior minister if the Prime Minister were Catholic or Jewish.

Once the Prime Minister has conveyed the CNC’s recommendation to the King, the Crown grants a licence (‘congé d’elire’) to the Canterbury College of Canons to elect a bishop and issues a letter naming the person to be elected. A Confirmation of Election ceremony then takes place at St Paul’s Cathedral. Once the King has assented to this election via formal legal processes, there is officially a new Archbishop of Canterbury. At this point, and if they are not already, the archbishop will be appointed and sworn a member of the Privy Council.

Homage to the Crown

A new archbishop also makes Homage to the Crown following his or her appointment by kneeling before the King, with the Lord Chancellor and the Clerk of the Closet in attendance. The new archbishop places the palms of their hands together as if in prayer. The King takes them between his own. The archbishop then repeats, after the Lord Chancellor, the words of the Homage:

I [NAME] having been elected, confirmed and consecrated Bishop of […] do hereby declare that Your Majesty is the only supreme governor of this your realm in spiritual and ecclesiastical things as well as in temporal and that no foreign prelate or potentate has any jurisdiction within this realm and I acknowledge that I hold the said bishopric as well the spiritualities as the temporalities thereof only of Your Majesty and for the same temporalities I do my homage presently to Your Majesty so help me God.
God save [King Charles].

The King then directs the Lord Chancellor to issue the necessary Letters and Writs for the restitution of the temporalities to the vacant see.

House of Lords

The new archbishop must do homage to the Crown before a writ of summons to the House of Lords is issued.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is one of 26 Lords Spiritual, archbishops and bishops of the Church of England who have seats in Parliament.

On receipt of a writ, the new archbishop will be ceremonially introduced. This is similar to the ceremony for a life peer, although Lords Spiritual are not preceded by Garter or Black Rod and have no Letters Patent to present. The archbishop is conducted by two supporting bishops to the appropriate bench and the writ of summons is read by the Reading Clerk.

A former Archbishop of Canterbury is traditionally created a life peer upon their retirement.

About the author: Dr David Torrance is a researcher at the House of Commons Library, specialising in monarchy and the constitution.

Photo by Mario La Pergola via Unsplash