The King has approved the appointment of the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, with Dame Sarah Mullally set to take up the position in January.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “I welcome the appointment of the first woman to hold the role.
“The Church of England is of profound importance to this country. Its churches, cathedrals, schools, and charities are part of the fabric of our communities.
“The Archbishop of Canterbury will play a key role in our national life. I wish her every success and look forward to working together.”
Lord Evans of Weardale, chairman of the Crown Nominations Commission for Canterbury, said he will be “praying for Bishop Sarah as she prepares to take up this new ministry in the coming months”.
Dame Sarah is the government’s former chief nursing officer for England, becoming the youngest holder of the role, having specialised as a cancer nurse.
She trained for ministry at the South East Institute of Theological Education having studied at South Bank University, London, and Heythrop College, University of London. She is currently the Bishop of London.
The appointment comes after an almost year-long wait since Justin Welby announced he would be resigning over a safeguarding scandal.
He announced he would quit last November over failures in the wake of the damning Makin review, which implicated him in the Church’s failure to protect victims from serial abuser John Smyth.
The review concluded Smyth might have been brought to justice had the archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013.
Mr Welby said at the time of his resignation he continued to take both personal and institutional responsibility “for the long and retraumatising period after 2013, and the harm that this has caused survivors”.
“I continue to feel a profound sense of shame at the Church of England’s historic safeguarding failures,” he said.
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell took on most of the responsibilities in the interim, and was one of the voting members of the body charged with choosing Mr Welby’s successor.
The new appointee’s title is Archbishop of Canterbury-designate.
They are then elected to the College of Canons of Canterbury Cathedral, when they will become the Archbishop of Canterbury-elect.
A legal ceremony, known as the confirmation of election, will take place in a religious service at St Paul’s Cathedral in January, during which the archbishop-elect legally becomes Archbishop of Canterbury. They are also automatically granted a seat in the House of Lords.
