'Theological liberal' and an assisted dying critic

Dame Sarah Mullally, 63, has been described as a “theological liberal” who will ordain men and women to the priesthood, but also supports the inclusion of those who reject the ordination of women.

- Caroline Davies

A former chief nursing officer for England, she was made a dame in 2005 in recognition of her contribution to nursing and midwifery, and has been bishop of London since 2018. She came late to the ordained ministry, spending decades in the NHS, as a cancer nurse, then the youngest chief nursing officer for England at 37, advising government officials, before giving up her nursing position in 2004 to serve as an assistant curate in Battersea.

In 2012, she became canon treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral before becoming bishop of Crediton in the diocese of Exeter in 2015.

By 2018, as bishop of London, she was the third most senior bishop in the Church of England after Canterbury and York, and with a seat in the House of Lords.