For the first time in history a motion of no confidence against a senior bishop in the Church of England, the Right Reverend Timothy Dakin, had been levelled but withdrawn when the Bishop agreed to resign. He was clearly an unpopular church leader, as the motion was signed by more than a quarter of the diocesan synod. There were many voices calling for him to go, which seemed inevitable in the face of such strong opposition. Tim Dakin knew that his disputed decisions and style of ministry had caused division, sorrow and anger. The highly controversial Bob Key/Channel Islands affair was a nail in the coffin of his career at Winchester. A financial and staffing crisis followed, and dogged demands for Tim Dakin to go were forthcoming.
Tim Dakin will lose his seat in the House of Lords, among the Lords Spiritual, as the bishopric comes with a peerage while in office. The Diocese of Winchester ranks highly in the dear old Church of England, being only one below the Sees of Canterbury and York. It is one of the oldest bishoprics in Western Christendom, dating back to 676 A.D.
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