She is the former Chief Nursing Officer for England, having become the youngest person to hold the role at the age of 37, and specialised as a cancer nurse. She was ordained as a priest in 2002 and became Bishop of London in 2018.

Both the Church of England and the Anglican are strongly divided on issues of theology and sexuality but she said she will “seek to bring people together to find hope and healing”.

Bishop Sarah said: “As I respond to the call of Christ to this new ministry, I do so in the same spirit of service to God and to others that has motivated me since I first came to faith as a teenager. At every stage of that journey, through my nursing career and Christian ministry, I have learned to listen deeply – to people and to God’s gentle prompting – to seek to bring people together to find hope and healing.

“I want, very simply, to encourage the Church to continue to grow in confidence in the Gospel, to speak of the love that we find in Jesus Christ and for it to shape our actions. And I look forward to sharing this journey of faith with the millions of people serving God and their communities in parishes all over the country and across the global Anglican Communion.

“I know this is a huge responsibility but I approach it with a sense of peace and trust in God to carry me as He always has.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the announcement, saying: “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.”

She promised to confront the safeguarding failures which led her predecessor to step down.

Speaking in Canterbury Cathedral, she said: “As a Church, we have too often failed to recognise or take seriously the misuse of power in all of its forms. As Archbishop, my commitment will be to ensure that we continue to listen to survivors, care for the vulnerable, and foster a culture of safety and well-being for all.

“This will not be easy. Our history of safeguarding failures has left a legacy of deep harm and mistrust, and we must all be willing to have light shone on our actions, regardless of our role in the Church.”

She added that Britain is “wrestling with complex moral and political questions” and cited the “legal right of terminally ill people to end their own lives, our response to people fleeing war and persecution to seek safety and refuge, the pressures on communities who have been overlooked and undervalued, the deep-rooted question of who we are as a nation, in a world that so often seems on the brink”.

The first women priests in the Church of England were ordained in 1994, with the first bishop consecrated in 2015. The role of women in leadership remains a subject of debate within Anglicanism.

In a sign of potential storms to come, GAFCON, the international grouping of Anglican conservatives, stated: “Today’s appointment makes it clearer than ever before that Canterbury has relinquished its authority to lead. The reset of our beloved Communion is now uniquely in the hands of GAFCON, and we are ready to take the lead.”

The new Archbishop-designate said she wants all traditions to “flourish”.

She told her Canterbury audience: “I’m told that there will be much talk today about this being a historic moment and a joyous one for many. I share with you in that joy, not for myself, but for a Church that listens to the calling of God and says, ‘Yes, we will follow you’.

“Some will be asking what it means for a woman to lead the Church of England and to take on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s global role in the Anglican Communion. I intend to be a shepherd who enables everyone’s ministry and vocation to flourish, whatever the tradition.”

Former MI5 boss Lord Evans of Weardale, who chaired the commission which searched for a successor to Justin Welby, said: “It has been a great privilege to have chaired the Crown Nominations Commission as it sought to discern who God is calling to lead the Church of England and Anglican Communion as Archbishop of Canterbury. That discernment began with the public consultation, which heard the voices of thousands of people as they expressed their hopes for this nomination, and continued all the way through to the Commission’s final meeting.

“I would like to thank all those who took part in this process, particularly those who took time to share their views in the consultation and the members of the Commission who worked so diligently over several months, ably assisted by the Appointments Secretaries and by the Appointments and Vocations team at Lambeth Palace. I shall be praying for Bishop Sarah as she prepares to take up this new ministry in the coming months.”

The Crown Nominations Commission had to agree by a two-thirds majority vote.

Following agreement on a recommended candidate, in line with tradition, the process involved a name being given to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer which was then passed to the monarch.

While, technically, the King is head of the Church of England, the person holding the role of Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop and is the spiritual leader of the Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Dame Sarah will legally become Archbishop of Canterbury at a ceremony in Canterbury Cathedral in January, followed by a formal enthronement service at a later date where members of the royal family are likely to be present.

She has much experience in the Church, having been installed as the first female Bishop of London .

In her first visit as archbishop-designate, Dame Sarah visited a local church on Friday and helped pack food parcels ahead of the formal announcement.

More than 11,000 people took part in February and March in a public consultation for the next archbishop – aimed at giving the public a chance to influence the future leadership of the Church, by submitting both names and the qualities they felt were required.

In a job description published earlier this year by the Diocese of Canterbury, it was stated the person filling the role should be someone of “the utmost integrity who is able to speak honestly” about failures and injustices in the Church, and a “servant leader, who shows compassion towards the disadvantaged and marginalised”.

They must also be “unapologetic about offering a Christian perspective to local, national and international dialogue”, it added.

Dame Sarah has been outspoken in her opposition to the assisted dying Bill currently being considered in Westminster’s Parliament.

As a member of the House of Lords she will have a vote on the Bill, and has previously said: “We must oppose a law that puts the vulnerable at risk and instead work to improve funding and access to desperately needed palliative care services.”

During his time in the role, Mr Welby had been vocal on issues of poverty, calling for the controversial two-child benefit cap to be scrapped, and had strongly criticised the previous Conservative government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which he warned was “leading the nation down a damaging path”.

He announced his resignation in November 2024, following days of pressure after an independent review concluded barrister and Christian camp leader John Smyth – the most prolific serial abuser to be associated with the Church – might have been brought to justice had Mr Welby formally reported him to police in 2013.

At the time, Mr Welby said he was quitting “in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse”.

Bishop Anthony Poggo, Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, said: “I welcome and commend the nomination of Bishop Sarah as the next Archbishop of Canterbury and invite the churches of the global Anglican Communion to pray for her as she prepares to take up this important ministry. May God grant her wisdom and discernment, as she seeks to listen to member churches, encourage mutual support, and foster unity.

“The Anglican Communion Office is fully committed to supporting her ministry as she works with other provinces and the instruments of the Anglican Communion. Let us pray that God will pour out His Spirit on the Anglican Communion to boldly share Christ’s transformational love and the hope of the Gospel in today’s world.”

The Church of England Evangelical Council warned that “in recent years there has been a significant loss of confidence in the role of the Archbishop,” adding: “We pray that this might be a moment where the current drift away from a biblical and Anglican understanding of marriage and sexual ethics is either halted or a way is found to secure biblical convictions in the Church of England for the future. Above all, our hope is that she will lead the Church of England in presenting the unchanging good news of the gospel afresh to our needy world.”