The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally appointed Bishop of London

10 Downing Street has announced that the next Bishop of London will be the Right Reverend Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, currently Bishop of Crediton in the Diocese of Exeter.

Bishop Sarah is a member of the College Council.

A trained nurse, she became Chief Nursing Officer for England in 1999, the youngest person to be appointed to this post. She trained for the ministry at the South East Institute for Theologian Education and served her first curacy at Battersea Fields in Southwark Diocese from 2001 to 2006. She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2005 for her contribution to nursing and midwifery.

Commenting on her appointment, she said: ‘It is a great honour to be nominated to the See of London. Having lived and worked in London for over 32 years, the thought of returning here is about returning home.’

The President  & Principal greeted the announcement by saying: ‘I am extremely proud that our alumna Bishop Sarah has been appointed as the next Bishop of London, following her significant contribution to both the health sector and Church.’

The Reverend Canon Professor Richard Burridge, Dean of King’s College London said: ‘I am delighted about her appointment.  I have known her over many years, not least when she was Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral (where I am also Canon Theologian) and I was thrilled when she was appointed to Crediton as one of our first women bishops. 

‘The Archbishop of Canterbury nominated her to serve on the College Council where I know she makes a huge contribution – and she was the preacher at our Opening of Year Service in 2016 when she helped me to install Lord Geidt as our new Chairman of the College Council in his stall in Chapel. I very much hope that she will be able to visit King’s in the near future – although, of course, we recognize the enormous demands her new ministry as the Lord Bishop of London will place upon her, and we remember her in our thoughts and prayers today.’

Bishop Sarah will succeed the Rt Revd and Right Hon Richard Chartres KCVO, who retired as Bishop of London earlier this year. She will be installed and enthroned as the 133rd Bishop of London at St Paul’s Cathedral at some point in the New Year.

Sarah is married to Eamonn and they have two children. She has continued her interest in the health service having been a non-executive director at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust then at Salisbury NHS Foundation Hospital.