Archbishop of Canterbury backs ‘fast-tracking’ women bishops to Lords

The first women bishops in the Church of England could be “fast-tracked” into the House of Lords, the Archbishop of Canterbury has suggested.

The Daily Telegraph reports that: Dr Rowan Williams, giving evidence yesterday to peers on reform of the Upper House, admitted there is a “somewhat restricted pool” of potential Lords Spiritual at the moment.

He said for the first time that he favoured rewriting the rules on how bishops are appointed to the chamber, so that women would be eligible once the first female bishops are created over the next few years.

The church’s governing body, the General Synod, will vote on the historic move next year and the first woman is expected to be made a bishop in 2014.

Dr Williams told the Joint Committee on the Draft House of Lords Reform Bill on Monday evening that the ranks of the episcopacy are currently not very “representative in gender terms” and that there is a “somewhat restricted pool” of potential representatives in the Lords.

He went on: “As and when women become bishops we don’t particularly want them to have to wait until 2025 [before they can join the Lords]. Therefore we want the discretion to allow a certain amount for fast-tracking for them.”

Currently there are guaranteed places for 26 Church of England bishops in the House of Lords, including both Archbishops and the most senior diocesan bishops, but none for representatives of other faiths.