It has been announced from 10 Downing Street that the next Bishop of Leeds is to be the Rt Revd Toby Howarth, currently Area Bishop of Bradford in the diocese of Leeds. There is further coverage on the Leeds diocesan website.
Appointment of the Bishop of Leeds: 31 July 2026
This appointment was approved by The King on the advice of the previous Prime Minister.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published: 31 July 2026The King has approved the nomination of The Right Reverend Dr. Toby Matthew Howarth, Suffragan Bishop of Bradford in the Diocese of Leeds, for election as Bishop of Leeds, in succession to The Right Reverend Nicholas Baines following his retirement.
Background
Toby was educated at Yale University, Birmingham University and the Free University of Amsterdam, and trained for the ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He served his title at St. Augustine, in the Diocese of Derby, and was ordained Priest in 1993. From 1995, Bishop Howarth served as a study partner with Crosslinks and The Netherlands Reformed Mission League in India and, in 2000, he was appointed Evangelist at the Pilgrim Father’s Church in Rotterdam. From 2002, Toby served as Tutor with the Church Mission Society at Crowther Hall, Selly Oak, in the Diocese of Birmingham and was made Vice-Principal in 2003.
In 2004, Bishop Howarth was appointed as Priest-in-Charge, Springfield St. Christopher, additionally serving as Inter-Faith Adviser to the Bishop of Birmingham from 2005. He served as Secretary for Inter-Religious Affairs to the Archbishop of Canterbury and National Adviser for Inter-Religious Affairs from 2011.
In 2014, Bishop Howarth took up his current role as Bishop of Bradford, and has been serving additionally as Acting Bishop of Leeds since 2025.
I don’t know the bishop of Bradford but this looks a strong nomination. The CNC didn’t need to go far to find him. Unusual and interesting breadth in his theological education (as well as having been a theological educator), completely up to speed with the complex diocese (which an outsider might have struggled with – he has been involved from the start in 2014) coupled with demonstrable inter-faith experience.