Archbishop of Canterbury

The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury and metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury. By virtue of their office the archbishop is also a Lord Spiritual, one of the 26 Church of England bishops who sit in the House of Lords of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The 106th archbishop is Dame Sarah Mullally, who was confirmed on 28 January 2026 and is the first woman to hold the office.

The first archbishop was Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great and arrived in 597. From Augustine until William Warham the archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the Catholic Church. During the English Reformation, King Henry VIII broke communion with Rome and proclaimed himself the head of the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer, appointed in 1533, became the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury and would become one of the most important figures in the development of Anglicanism.

The archbishop is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the prime minister of the United Kingdom and formally elected by the college of canons of Canterbury Cathedral. In practice, however, candidates are chosen by the Crown Nominations Commission, a Church of England body which advises the prime minister.