In a sad turn of events yesterday, the General Synod of the Church of England vetoed the legislation for women bishops, after Dr Rowan Williams, the current Archbishop of Canterbury and his successor Justin Welby both supported the draft legislation.

The draft legislation was carried in the Houses of bishops and clergy, but failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority amongst lay members, losing by just six votes. The vote was touted as the biggest in 20 years since the General Synod supported the introduction of women priests in 1992, and came after 42 out of the 44 dioceses of the Church of England backed the legislation.

Had the draft legislation been approved, it would have gone to the Houses of Parliament before Royal Assent with the first women bishops on course to be appointed as early as 2014.

Expressing his deep disappointment, Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury said, ”Of course I hoped and prayed that this particular business would be at another stage before I left, and of course it is a personal sadness, a deep personal sadness, that that is not the case. I can only wish the Synod and the archbishop all good things and every blessing with resolving this in the shortest possible time.”

Around one-third of the clergy in the Church of England are women, they also make up just under a half of all those training for ordination. Rev Rachel Weir, Watch chairman, said, “This is a tragic day for the Church of England after so many years of debate and after all our attempts at compromise. Despite this disappointing setback, Watch will continue to campaign for the full acceptance of women’s gifts of leadership in the Church’s life.”

Rev Prebendary Rod Thomas, chairman of the conservative evangelical grouping Reform, who holds opposing views over the matter, said that this was good news for the Church of England adding that a ”disastrous mistake for our unity and witness” has been avoided.

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