THE names of the ultimate three members of Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) for the following Archbishop of Canterbury were named on Tuesday, after a contentious local selection process.
A industrial lawyer, David Berry, a former county councillor, Sally-Ann Marks, and the Area Dean of Eastbridge, Canon Estella Last, have been elected from the diocese of Canterbury’s vacancy-in-see committee.
Canon Last has ministered within the diocese since her ordination to the priesthood in 2014, and was diocesan adviser on women’s ministry from 2019 to 2024. Ms Marks is a former chairman of Surrey County Council, representing the Conservative Party, and PCC member at St George’s, Benenden. Mr Berry is church warden of St Michael and All Angels, Hartlip, and was formerly a partner on the law firm Charles Russell Speechlys.
The three will join 14 others, including representatives from the General Synod, the Anglican Communion, and the House of Bishops. The names of those other members was confirmed last week (News, 16 May).
For previous Archbishops of Canterbury, there have been six representatives from the diocese of Canterbury and one from the Anglican Communion. This was modified in 2022, increasing the Communion representation to 5 and reducing the number drawn from the vacancy-in-see committee.
Elections within the diocese needed to be rerun several times. One version of the vacancy-in-see committee, constituted before the resignation of Archbishop Welby, was deemed to not have been properly elected, owing to candidates’ being drawn from the diocesan synod only.
A subsequent election, held in early 2025, was also considered to be improperly conducted after the event. Rule 75 of the Church Representation Rules was cited, which states that somebody who will mechanically be elected owing to a scarcity of other eligible candidates ought to be faraway from the voting paper.
At around the identical time, the foundations about who can serve on a vacancy-in-see committee, and who could be elected from it to serve on a CNC, were altered by the General Synod in February (Synod, 28 February).
Only after the committee had been properly formed was the election of its representatives to the CNC possible, although the Church Times understands that a Statement of Needs prepared by a previous iteration of the committee on behalf of the diocese has been accepted as a part of the documentation to be considered within the appointment process.
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