The Prime Minister’s Office issued the following press release this morning. There is more on the Durham diocesan website.
Appointment of the Bishop of Durham:
19 February 2026
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard Simpson, for election as Bishop of Durham.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 19 February 2026
The King has approved the nomination of The Venerable Richard (Rick) Simpson, Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham, for election as Bishop of Durham, in succession to The Right Reverend Paul Roger Butler, following his retirement.
Background
Rick was educated at Keble College, Oxford, and trained for ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his title at St. Gabriel’s Heaton, in the Diocese of Newcastle, and was ordained Priest in 1994.
From 1997, Rick served as Priest-in-Charge, and then Vicar, Holy Trinity, Jesmond, and St. Barnabas and St. Jude, Sandyford, in the Diocese of Newcastle. In 2006, he was appointed IME 2 lead for the Dioceses of Durham and Newcastle, supporting curates and training incumbents, and Priest-in-Charge, St. Brandon’s, Brancepeth, in the Diocese of Durham.
In 2018, Rick took up his current role as Archdeacon of Auckland.
Hoorah!
Why?
What an unusual and, to quote Sir Humphrey Appleby ‘courageous’ appointment.
Of course the Bishop of Durham clearly does not carry the weight it once did. But an internal appointment to be diocesan bishop is very unusual – (is it? can anyone give other recent examples), and in the case of Durham I am not sure it is wise.
For myself I think it rather shows the difficulty the church is having in appointing diocesan bishops.
Another recent example: Philip North from Burnley to Blackburn.
Bishop of Penrith became Bishop of Carlisle.
Dave that last case I remember of such an internal appointment was in 1988/89? when Bishop Michael Turnbull who was Archdeacon of Rochester and a Canon Residentiary of Rochester Cathedral was appointed Bishop of Rochester. He was translated to Durham in 1994. Jonathan
Very common in the Anglican Church of Canada. Of course, our bishops are elected by diocesan electoral synods, and then their elections are confirmed by their provincial house of bishops, so there’s a different flavour to it all.
Rick is excellent. He and i were candidates for the IME 2 post in Newcastle and Durham – he was appointed! I observe that he steered Holy Trinity Jesmond to be a more open evangelical church than its larger neighbour and to be a place where questioning faith was encouraged. He has solid parish experience in the north east.