A view from Ysenda Maxtone Graham
..In recent years it has tended to be the case that if those six people from the diocese are united in wanting a particular candidate to win, that candidate does win. It used to be four from the diocese and six from the national church, but now it\u2019s six-six. The result is that the needs of the national church no longer take precedence over the needs of the diocese \u201d\u201d which tends to count against the maverick brilliant theologian types. Dioceses say, \u201d\u02dcWe don\u2019t want a dry and dusty theologian, do we?\u2019 This, say some, is a bad state of affairs: we need our theologian bishops, even if they are dry and dusty, which they aren\u2019t necessarily.<\/p>\n
A vote is taken, and the majority must be at least two thirds, although I\u2019m not sure what two thirds of 14 is. It used to be that two names were put forward to the Prime Minister for him or her to choose from. Now one name is put forward: the second is only there in case the first one doesn\u2019t accept the post. The Chosen One receives a letter from the Prime Minister, who has had no role in the process.<\/p>\n
So, who might be on the Oven Ready List and be about to be plucked out as one of those four candidates for Bishop of London?<\/p>\n