Archbishop of Canterbury job advert seeks ‘servant leader of utmost integrity'

A job description for the next archbishop of Canterbury has stated the chosen person must be someone of the 'utmost integrity', able to speak on the issues affecting the society's most vulnerable, and could be a woman for the first time in the role's history.
The Church of England post has been vacant since January when Justin Welby formally left office having announced his resignation the previous November amid safeguarding failures surrounding a Christian camp leader who had been a serial abuser.
In a so-called statement of needs, published this week, the Diocese of Canterbury set out a lengthy list of requirements the chosen candidate should have.
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.
The Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) – the body charged with nominating the new archbishop – held the first of three planned private meetings last month.
It is expected there could be an announcement on a nomination for the 106th archbishop of Canterbury by autumn – a year after Mr Welby announced he was standing down.
He said on November 12 2024 that he was to quit following failures in handling a Church abuse scandal involving barrister and religious camp leader John Smyth – thought to be the most prolific abuser associated with the Church.
More than 11,000 people took part in February and March in a public consultation for the next archbishop of Canterbury – aimed at giving people the chance to influence the future of leadership within the Church, by submitting both names and the qualities they think are required.
The Canterbury diocese said the statement of needs incorporates views from the public consultation 'as well as explaining what life in our diocese is like for those who live, work and worship here'.
Among the requirements are a person with 'theological depth' who is a good communicator with people of different ages and backgrounds, 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', the statement says.
Issues such as same-sex marriage and women's roles in the Church are also referenced.
The chosen person must be someone who is happy to ordain and consecrate women and men and 'will unequivocally affirm and support the ministry of both, and may themselves be male or female'.
While women have been ordained in the Church of England for a number of years, there has never been a female in the top role.
The chosen person must also have 'worked and will continue to work constructively' around ongoing discussions around blessings services for same-sex couples, and 'embrace' both those who support and others who oppose same-sex marriage in the Church.
On what has been a divisive and difficult debate in the Church, the person 'will recognise with honesty the complexity of the current situation and the strongly held, but different, convictions present in the diocese as in the Church of England more widely'.
Rather than applying, it is usual that candidates are 'invited in' to the process.
Historically, candidates have been people who already have senior leadership roles in ministry in the Church or elsewhere in the Anglican Communion.
They must be at least 30 years old, and generally younger than 70.
Chairman of the Vacancy in See Committee, the Venerable Dr Will Adam, said: 'The (consultation) responses gathered have helped us put together a Statement of Needs that captures the opportunities and challenges in our diverse corner of the country, reflecting the coastal, urban and rural communities and the church in all its variety in this diocese.
'The document will be enormously helpful to the Crown Nominations Commission and to candidates as we continue to discern who God is calling to be our next Archbishop.'

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Daily Mail​

32 minutes ago

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STEPHEN DAISLEY: We're governed by a born-to-rule elite...and the WhatsApp scandal shows EXACTLY how out of touch they are

Against stiff competition, one of the most outrageous happenings inside Nicola Sturgeon 's government was the routine deletion of messages during the Covid-19 pandemic. The revelation came in evidence before the UK inquiry into the management of the global health crisis. One after another, senior figures in the Scottish Government admitted they had deleted WhatsApps and other messages. Sturgeon had erased her digital missives and so had John Swinney. National clinical director Jason Leitch described 'WhatsApp deletion' as 'a pre-bed ritual'. Senior civil servant Ken Thomson posted on message threads that their contents were 'discoverable under FOI' and advised: 'Know where the "clear chat" button is.' In office, Sturgeon seldom missed an opportunity to highlight where Scotland's government was outperforming England's, but here was one regard in which she was happy to be unexceptional. Senior Westminster figures got rid of their messages and their Holyrood counterparts were no better. Why am I raking up this ancient history when the world is exploding all around us? Well, because an important announcement was slipped out on Friday - usually a quiet day in Scottish politics - and I think it deserves a little noise. Deputy first minister Kate Forbes confirmed that her ban on ministers and civil servants using unofficial messaging apps to do official business was now in effect. The prohibition was initially trailed before Christmas and reflects concern about rules and practices at the height of the pandemic. Now, six months on, WhatsApp and similar platforms have been removed from government-issued phones, with the (common sense) exception of services that deal with public safety and emergencies, which will get longer to make the transition. Speaking on Friday, Forbes said: 'The use of mobile messaging apps increased during the pandemic as staff worked remotely in unprecedented and difficult circumstances. Having reflected on our working practices, we are now implementing changes to the use of such apps.' However, the Scottish Government should not be allowed to issue a lowkey update and then press on with other business. Let's recall how we got here. Because ministers aren't alone in having 'reflected' on their working practices. In addition to Lady Hallett's inquiry, and the negative public response to top officials wiping their communications archives, message retention was put under the microscope in the Martins Report. Former Channel Islands Information Commissioner Emma Martins was tasked with reviewing the Scottish Government's information protocols and what she found was lamentable. There was 'little to evidence a consistent and widespread knowledge, understanding, or application' of the policy on messaging apps, 'including rules around retention, exportation, and deletion'. There was 'insufficient evidence of a proactive strategy' on records management and 'an abundance of missed opportunities and early warning signs'. Martins concluded that it was 'impossible to take any comfort from the policy'. The report recommended a fresh approach to messaging apps that ensured 'all government communication is conducted in a managed environment' and that systems have 'appropriate security and data retention facilities'. Banishing external communications platforms from government phones is certainly a step in the right direction, but why is it a step that's needed at all? It's no coincidence that the minister rolling out these changes is one of the few who did the right thing when it came to pandemic-era communications. Whatever else her critics might say about her, Forbes understood her obligations to transparency and public accountability. Even after she was told to begin deleting messages with her private office two years after the outset of the pandemic, she retained all WhatsApps to and from Cabinet colleagues and government officials. Her integrity meant Lady Hallett's inquiry was able to access conversations at the most senior levels that would otherwise have been lost to the erase button. But that same integrity must compel the deputy first minister to be honest about this policy. Among the various security and data protection advantages of in-house communications networks, there is also the greater monitoring capability they hand to administrators. In plain language: it's harder for a user to delete messages from an in-house system than from WhatsApp or Telegram. On the most charitable reading of this policy, it's an admission that those in the most senior roles in the Scottish Government are inept in the proper use and storage of communications. A less charitable reading is that the Scottish Government does not trust its personnel, ministers and civil servants alike, not to scrub information that could be of national importance. That is a desperate state of affairs. As Emma Martins stated in her report, 'something went wrong for the Scottish Government' and the issue was one that 'runs much deeper than a single policy document or checklist'. An organisation, she said, needed 'those operating within it to share a basic set of values'. Abiding by the rules was 'not a tick box exercise' but 'a way of thinking', which must be 'embedded into everything', not to avoid 'the threat of sanction' but because 'it is the right thing to do'. 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A government marinated in spin and cynicism for so long isn't about to mend its way because of new rules. You need people in public life who are there for the right reasons. After 18 years of the SNP in charge, transparency and openness have been thoroughly sidelined. Going through the motions is not the same as genuine accountability, it's working to a policy rather than a moral principle. This administration talks a lot about its commitment to open government but time and again it is shown to be a hollow promise. We have a born-to-rule elite with altogether more confidence in their abilities than is merited and this arrogance has engendered a conviction that the public deserves to know only what their betters want them to know. This is no way to run a democratic government, but it is not a problem that can be tweaked away. It can be addressed only by a blunt and bracing assessment of the calibre of politicians and policymakers coming into Holyrood and a conversation about how we can do better. The WhatsApp deletion scandal was a low moment for devolved government in Scotland but it would be foolhardy to assume that the problem has been solved. Holyrood requires a new culture of integrity, transparency and accountability. The work of creating this culture cannot be undertaken by those responsible for the past two decades. It calls for a new government under new leadership.

The Guardian

40 minutes ago

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Reform unveils plan to top up poorest workers from £250,000 fee on rich UK newcomers

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Telegraph

an hour ago

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Farage: ‘I will charge non-doms £250k and give it to the poor'

Nigel Farage will vow to reinstate non-dom status for wealthy entrepreneurs if they pay a £250,000 fee which will be handed to Britain's poorest workers. On Monday, the Reform UK leader will use a press conference to unveil plans to impose a Robin Hood-style levy on new or returning 'high net worth' individuals. The revenue generated would then be redistributed to pay cash bonuses of £600 a year to low-paid workers. Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Farage said the policy would encourage the return of wealthy and talented entrepreneurs to the UK while also providing benefits to British workers. The policy will be seen as a further attempt to win over Labour voters after Reform's commitment last month to restore the winter fuel payment to all pensioners and scrap the two-child benefit cap. It also creates a clear dividing line with the Tories and Labour on wealth generation after both parties ordered crackdowns on non-doms. 'Success must be celebrated' The announcement comes a day after a poll showed that Reform was on course to win an outright majority at the next general election. Mr Farage said: 'Our policy is simple – Britain must be a place where success is celebrated, not punished with excessive taxes, crippling energy costs, or punitive inheritance levies. 'We will actively encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom, on the clear condition that those who come here deliver immediate, visible benefits to our workers.' Rachel Reeves scrapped non-dom status in April, ending wealthy individuals' right to avoid full UK tax on their overseas earnings. The Chancellor also made worldwide assets of all UK residents subject to inheritance tax at 40 per cent. The moves have been blamed for driving some of Britain's richest people abroad. Those affected by the scrapping of the status include people such as the South African national Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs's best-paid banker outside the US, Nassef Sawiris, the Aston Villa FC co-owner, and the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal. Mr Farage wrote: 'Over the last 10 years, UK policy toward non-domiciled taxpayers has lurched from piecemeal tightening under successive Conservative chancellors to outright abolition under the current Labour Government. 'The result? A record-breaking and alarming exodus of high-spending, high-tax-paying residents, leaving an estimated £7 billion yearly hole in public finances and inflicting huge collateral damage on London's position as Europe's financial centre.' Mr Farage claimed Reform's approach would be 'different, transparent, and designed to directly benefit the hard-working backbone of this nation'. 'Every high net worth newcomer [or returning leaver] will pay a £250,000 one-off entry contribution in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield,' he added. The new non-doms would have to renew their status with a £250,000 payment every subsequent decade, which would renew their 20-year inheritance tax exemption. They would have to pay UK taxes on their UK earnings including income tax, NI, VAT and stamp duty. Anyone who had remained in the UK and wanted to renew their non-dom status would also be eligible under the plans, to be set out in a 12-page document on Monday. 'Crucially, 100 per cent of this contribution is hypothecated to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers, delivered automatically by HMRC as a tax-free cash dividend,' said Mr Farage. 'This means roughly 2.5 million hard-working Britons – the grafters who keep this country running – will receive an annual cash bonus, sent directly to their bank accounts at the end of the financial year. 'Thanks to this policy, in a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued annually, we'll generate a £1.5 billion fund, resulting in a tax-free annual dividend of £600 per worker. In a high-uptake scenario with 10,000 cards, this could deliver a £2.5-billion fund, providing £1,000 per worker. 'This isn't just a number. It's money in the pockets of those who need it most, from cleaners to nurses to small business owners.' By Nigel Farage It should come as no surprise that, over the past few decades, many of the UK's most successful and influential business minds have left the country in droves – a clear and troubling sign of national decline. Over the past 10 years, UK policy toward non-domiciled taxpayers ('non-doms') has lurched from piecemeal tightening under successive Conservative chancellors to outright abolition under the current Labour Government. The result? A record-breaking and alarming exodus of high-spending, high-tax-paying residents, leaving an estimated £7 billion yearly hole in public finances and inflicting huge collateral damage on London's position as Europe's financial centre. The social contract between the rich and the poor is at an all-time low. Public trust in the tax system has been eroded by perceptions that elites play by a different set of rules. In the past, your average Briton saw little to no benefit from the wealthy in their midst. If anything, it created greater division and hostility. Reform UK is determined to change this. We are the party of working people – the party of those with alarm clocks who get up in the morning and work hard, whether they're at the higher end of the financial scale or the lower end. Our approach is different, transparent, and designed to directly benefit the hard-working backbone of this nation. Unlike the opaque financial mechanisms of the past, where wealth seemed to vanish into hidden pots of money that ordinary people could not see, Reform UK is committed to doing things differently. We will rebuild the social contract by ensuring that every wealthy individual who wishes to move here makes a tangible contribution to Britain's lowest earners. Our policy is simple: Britain must be a place where success is celebrated, not punished with excessive taxes, crippling energy costs, or punitive inheritance levies. We will actively encourage the return of wealth and talent to the United Kingdom – on the clear condition that those who come here deliver immediate, visible benefits to our workers. Here's how it works: every high-net-worth newcomer (or returning leaver) will pay a £250,000 one-off entry contribution in return for a stable, indefinite remittance-style regime on offshore income and a 20-year inheritance-tax shield. Crucially, 100 per cent of this contribution is hypothecated to Britain's lowest-paid full-time workers, delivered automatically by HMRC as a tax-free cash dividend. This means roughly 2.5 million hard-working Britons – the grafters who keep this country running – will receive an annual cash bonus, sent directly to their bank accounts at the end of the financial year. Thanks to this policy, in a low-uptake scenario with 6,000 cards issued annually, we'll generate a £1.5 billion fund, resulting in a tax-free annual dividend of £600 per worker. In a high-uptake scenario with 10,000 cards, this could deliver a £2.5 billion fund, providing £1,000 per worker. This isn't just a number. It's money in the pockets of those who need it most, from cleaners to nurses to small-business owners. Our policy is not a 'golden visa' or a backdoor to citizenship. It is a one-time flat tax paid by newcomers in exchange for the certainty of a favourable tax status. Individuals will still be liable for all standard UK taxes on UK-sourced income, property, and spending. But they won't be taxed on offshore income and gains for the duration of their agreed status. Pay your quarter million pounds upfront, and enjoy UK residency without worldwide taxation hassles. After all, this is still the best country in the world, and many of the world's wealthy want to move here but are deterred by the economic downsides. Unlike the old, indefinite non-dom arrangement under the Tories, which lacked transparency and failed to benefit ordinary people, our solution is immediate, visible, and mutually beneficial for both newcomers and the hard-working British worker struggling to make ends meet. Unlike Labour's punitive approach, which drives wealth away, we incentivise the rich to return to Britain. Over the past decade, the number of non-dom taxpayers has plummeted from over 120,000 to fewer than 80,000. The failed approaches of both Labour and the Conservatives have cost this country billions annually. Reform UK's plan will reverse this trend, capturing revenue from global wealth, channelling funds to support the working class, and restoring London as a global powerhouse for business, finance, and investment. The driving ambition of Reform UK is to put the lives of everyday British citizens first – and this policy does exactly that. We are the party of working people, and we are building a Britain where wealth and opportunity are shared, not hoarded. By ensuring that every pound contributed by the wealthy goes directly to those who get up early and work hard, we are creating a fairer, stronger, and more prosperous nation for all.