Sarah Mullally named as the first female Bishop of London

The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally has been named as the first female Bishop of London, becoming the most senior woman bishop appointed by the Church of England.

The Right Reverend Sarah Mullally

• Bishop Sarah previously worked as a nurse in St Thomas' and Royal Marsden Hospitals
• In 1999 she was appointed the youngest chief nursing officer at the Department of Health
• She was made a dame in recognition of her services to nursing and was made a fellow of London South Bank University in 2001
• She was ordained in 2001 and left her Government post in 2004, taking up a full-time ministry in the London borough of Sutton
• In 2012 she became Canon Treasurer at Salisbury Cathedral before becoming Bishop of Crediton in the diocese of Exeter in 2015
• She married Eamonn Mullally in 1987. The couple have a daughter and a son

She takes over the role from Dr Richard Chartres, who retired in February.

Legislation to allow women bishops was formally adopted by the Church in 2014.

The Church consecrated its first female bishop in 2015 when the Rt Revd Libby Lane was made Bishop of Stockport.

The latest appointment means the former NHS chief nurse, who is currently the Bishop of Crediton in Devon, will hold the third most senior position in the Church of England.