Almost half the lay members who voted against female bishops were women

Records show 33 of 74 lay members of the Church of England's General Synod voted against female bishops

Almost half of the lay people who voted against legislation to allow female bishops in the Church of England were women, according to figures released on Monday, as senior members of the church were urged to speed up reform or risk consigning it to years of ignominy and irrelevance.


Voting records released by Church House showed 33 of the 74 General Synod lay members who last week caused the long-awaited measure to fail were women and most of them are affiliated to the conservative evangelical group Reform or the traditional Anglo-Catholic movement Forward in Faith.

Susie Leafe, a member of Reform, insisted the strong showing from female lay members was not surprising. She co-ordinated a petition against the measure which was signed by more than 2,200 women. "This is not an issue of sexism. It is an issue of theological conviction – and conviction crosses across the genders," she said. "So, as I read the Bible, I am convicted that men and women are equal and different. I am not surprised at all."

The legislation, which needed a two-thirds majority in each of the synod's three houses, was passed comfortably in the house of bishops and clergy but scuppered in the laity by just six votes. Read more