‘Take a look at the Gospels – the Christian message has always been a political one.’ So wrote Sarah Mullally, then a little-known rector in a south London parish, on her blog 15 years ago, in the summer of 2011. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, had just provoked the ire of David Cameron and the Coalition Government, by suggesting, in an editorial for the New Statesman, that its health and education reforms were forcing upon the United Kingdom ‘radical, long-term policies for which no one voted’. In response, Tory MP Tony Baldry, the Second Church Estates Commissioner (a key link between Parliament and the Church of England), threatened that further political interventions would jeopardise the right of bishops to sit in the House of Lords. But Mullally jumped to the Archbishop’s defence. She asserted that anyone who believes ‘faith leaders should stay out of politics’ needs to read the New Testament.
Fast forward to 2026 and Sarah Mullally herself now stands on the threshold of enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury. Her track record suggests that her time in high office will be deeply politically engaged. Already, during her eight years as Bishop of London, she has risen to be a prominent Christian spokesperson with a national profile, one of the most recognizable religious leaders. Mullally is a familiar face on important occasions like the televised National Service of Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Whitehall, just opposite 10 Downing Street – a location she knows very well from her previous career in the Department of Health, as the Chief Nursing Officer for England, advising cabinet ministers and policy makers. But now at Canterbury her platform and influence are expanding dramatically. Mullally brings many contacts in government, Parliament, and civil service, and is well placed to lobby and campaign politically, on Christian principles.
As one of the Lords Spiritual, with an automatic seat in Parliament’s Upper Chamber, Mullally has thrown herself into political debate. In her maiden speech in the House of Lords in 2018, she described London as ‘a city of inequality and deprivation’, where people felt ‘ignored, marginalised and – often justifiably – angry’. Therefore, she has sought to use her position to speak on behalf of communities without a voice, especially migrants, women, and those living in poverty. Mullally has been part of the ‘Making London a Living Wage City’ campaign, to help workers on low pay, co-chairing the steering group alongside the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. She also encourages Anglican clergy to engage in active public protest – provided it is peaceful and legal – noting that ‘there is a long history of Christians taking a public stand for matters of faith and justice’. For example, she recommends her clergy join with Extinction Rebellion to highlight the ‘serious perils’ of climate change, though acknowledging it is not possible to endorse all of the group’s controversial tactics.
Amid the political turmoil in 2019 surrounding Britain’s tortured exit from the European Union, Mullally preached at the annual Judges Service at Westminster Abbey, just a week after the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful. She lamented the recent ‘chaos and confusion’ as a low point in British democracy and urged the judiciary to always remember that ‘justice starts with the poor, the marginalised, the weak and the oppressed’. Speaking at the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast in Westminster Hall, she challenged MPs and peers to avoid ‘binary narratives’ which breed a culture of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. She lamented the ‘Punch and Judy’ of modern politics, witnessed weekly at Prime Minister’s Question Time, and called for a more compassionate political culture which does not ‘demonise’ others.
In a febrile political atmosphere dominated by ‘denigration’ and ‘hate-speech’, Mullally champions instead the Christian doctrine of imago dei – of humanity created in God’s image. She teaches the equality and dignity of every person. This drives her to pursue the flourishing of every individual, especially those on the margins. In her interventions in the House of Lords, Mullally is explicit about this theological framework which deeply shapes her political instincts. She affirms that everything she says is underpinned by her conviction that ‘people are made in the image of God and are immeasurably valued’.
For example, when debating financial compensation in 2020 for those caught up in the Windrush deportation scandal, Mullally chastised the Home Office for neglecting ‘a critical principle that is foundational to my Christian faith: human dignity’. ‘As a Christian,’ she exclaimed in a speech on working conditions for nurses, ‘I believe that each of us is precious and made in the image of God, with a sacred dignity and value that should be respected. Individuals are to be cherished, not just used and exploited.’ She reiterated the same ideas in 2024 when criticising government plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda and called for better legislation that recognises the ‘inherent immeasurable value’ of every human being. In a speech a few days later, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, Mullally argued that the concept of imago dei means humanity is bound together in ‘mutuality and interdependence’, so we must challenge the prejudice and hatred increasingly prevalent in British society.
Mullally often uses her voice in Parliament to speak in defence of the vulnerable. She has addressed wide-ranging topics including domestic abuse, health inequalities, modern slavery, the ‘levelling-up’ agenda, palliative care, the anti-immigration riots, and fairer treatment of Gypsy, Roma and Travelling communities. She also vocally opposes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, arguing that it would signal that Britian has become ‘a society that believes that some lives are not worth living’. She urges: ‘We need to remind ourselves that each person is of immeasurable value which cannot be diminished by illness, disability or care costs.’
In her summons for all Christians to be politically engaged, Sarah Mullally leads by example. As the new Archbishop of Canterbury she becomes perhaps the most significant Christian voice in modern British politics.
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