Who is favourite to be next Archbishop of Canterbury as Justin Welby resigns

Justin Welby has today resigned as Archbishop of Canterbury, sparking a new race for the coveted position.

following mounting pressure to quit over his handling of the

Before he made the decision, a petition, started by three members of the General Synod - the church's parliament- called for Justin Welby to quit and received more than 11,500 signatures.

But who will replace him as Archbishop of Canterbury? There are three favourites who could become successor.

They are the Rt Reverend Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, and the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester.

The Rt Reverend Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich

Bishop Graham is the lead bishop for the environment.

In October 2023 he took his seat in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual.

Bishop Graham became the 72nd Bishop of Norwich on 17 June 2019 and was formally welcomed at his enthronement service in Norwich Cathedral on 9 November 2019.

Prior to his appointment as Bishop of Norwich, he was Bishop of Dudley from 2014 - 2019.

He studied ecological science at the University of Edinburgh and theology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, before training for ministry at Westcott House, Cambridge.

He is the patron or president of over 25 charities and shared two children with his wife Rachel who is a GP.

Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford

Bishop Guli has served as Bishop of Chelmsford since April 2021.

In January 2021, she was also appointed as the lead Bishop for Housing for the Church of England and she has served as a member of the Lords Spiritual in the House of Lords since November 2021.

Bishop Guli is currently Chair of the Board of the Church Army and has written an extensive number of books.

She graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BA Hons in Music then completing an MA in Religious Studies at the University of Bristol and soon afterwards began working on her PhD, which she was awarded in May1999

Born in Iran, Guli's family left the country in the wake of the Iranian Revolution in 1980, when she was 13 years old. She is now married to Lee, also a priest and they have three children.

The Rt Revd Martyn Snow, Bishop of Leicester

Bishop Martyn became the seventh Bishop of Leicester in May 2016 after being ordained suffragan bishop in 2013.

In 2022, Bishop Martyn entered the House of Lords where he carries a particular brief for issues related to poverty - he is also the lead Bishop for Living in Love and Faith.

He is the Bishop Protector of the Third Order of St Francis, and a member of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns.

He studied Chemistry at the University of Sheffield before working with the Crown Prosecution Service.

Bishop Martyn is married to Dr Lynn Snow, a paediatrician and they have 3 children.

Justin Welby's resignation speech

"Having sought the gracious permission of His Majesty The King, I have decided to resign as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Makin Review has exposed the long-maintained conspiracy of silence about the heinous abuses of John Smyth.

"When I was informed in 2013 and told that police had been notified, I believed wrongly that an appropriate resolution would follow. It is very clear that I must take personal and institutional responsibility for the long and retraumatising period between 2013 and 2024.

"It is my duty to honour my Constitutional and church responsibilities, so exact timings will be decided once a review of necessary obligations has been completed, including those in England and in the Anglican Communion.

"I hope this decision makes clear how seriously the Church of England understands the need for change and our profound commitment to creating a safer church. As I step down I do so in sorrow with all victims and survivors of abuse.

"The last few days have renewed my long felt and profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. For nearly twelve years I have struggled to introduce improvements. It is for others to judge what has been done.

"In the meantime, I will follow through on my commitment to meet victims. I will delegate all my other current responsibilities for safeguarding until the necessary risk assessment process is complete.

"I ask everyone to keep my wife Caroline and my children in their prayers. They have been my most important support throughout my ministry, and I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice. Caroline led the spouses' programme during the Lambeth Conference and has travelled tirelessly in areas of conflict supporting the most vulnerable, the women, and those who care for them locally.

"I believe that stepping aside is in the best interests of the Church of England, which I dearly love and which I have been honoured to serve. I pray that this decision points us back towards the love that Jesus Christ has for every one of us.

"For above all else, my deepest commitment is to the person of Jesus Christ, my saviour and my God; the bearer of the sins and burdens of the world, and the hope of every person."

The resignation of Justin Welby as the Archbishop of Canterbury leaves the Church of England in search of a new leader.

Unlike the appointment of the Pope, there will be no white smoke rising from Westminster Abbey, but there will be an opaque selection process for decision makers to navigate.

Since its establishment in the 1970s, the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC) has been responsible for the selection process. Consisting of 17 voting members from across the church, chaired by a public figure appointed by the Prime Minister.

The successful candidate will need to obtain two-thirds of CNC votes, although how names come to be put before the committee is not well understood.

The CNC's preferred candidate will then be put before the Prime Minister who in theory, will decide on their suitability to be placed before the King for confirmation.