Gyles Brandreth had to confront the fact that he wasn't Catholic, so he settled for becoming the Archbishop of Canterbury
I have been spending a lot of time in church recently. Funerals, mostly. The great Richard Harries, Lord Harries of Pentegrath, former Bishop of Oxford, Oldie contributor and doyen of the Today programme’s Thought for the Day, was given a moving send-off at his (and my) local church, St Mary’s in Barnes, south-west London, the other day. Richard, who died just short of his 90th birthday, was a wonderful man (strong, kind and wise) and, unsurprisingly, he got a full house, awash with bishops, including the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally. At St Mary’s, we have been partial to an archbishop for a thousand years. The original church was built of flint in the 1120s, and then enlarged and reconsecrated in 1215 by Cardinal Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207 to 1228. Langton came to St Mary’s literally on his way from attending the sealing of Magna...
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