Disgraced chief almost became Bishop of London

THE disgraced former boss of the Post Office was shortlisted to be Bishop of London despite suggestions having emerged at the time that postmasters had been wrongly prosecuted.

Paula Vennells, who today handed back her CBE, was one of a handful candidates to become Bishop of London in 2017, the third most senior role in the Church of England.

She was ordained as a priest in 2006 and had been an associate minister in the diocese of St Albans while at the same time running the Post Office

Ms Vennells was interviewed to be Bishop of London in 2017, with the Archbishop of Canterbury believed to support her application. By 2015, the Post Office had halted prosecutions of subpostmasters and in 2017 legal action was launched by 555 subpostmasters after a long-running campaign about the miscarriage of justice.

Dame Sarah Mullally DBE was appointed the 133rd bishop of London in December 2017, however, church sources said Justin Welby was personally supportive of Ms Vennells.

“I have heard that Welby pushed for her,” one said. “Apparently, the meeting of the Crown Nominations Committee in 2017 was quite fortuitous because Paula had no parish experience and was a self supporting minister.”

Another source said the Mr Welby was known to be supportive of Ms Vennells, who sat on the church’s Ethical Investments Advisory Group.

An annual report from the group said Ms Vennells stood down in May 2021 after a temporary leave of absence. “We are grateful for all the time, wisdom and support that Paula has provided to the Group since her appointment in 2019 and wish her well,” it said.

Lambeth Palace did not respond to request for comment. A spokesman for the Church of England said: “We never make any comment on who is a candidate, or not, in what is a confidential discernment process.”