PLACE YOUR BETS

One of my reliable (by OCICBW... standards) sources in the capital has informed me that the smart money is on the acceptable face of mild rebellion, Giles Fraser, becoming either the new bishop of Woolwich or Dean of Southwark. In the Church of England we have a few top posts that are set aside for those slightly controversial clerics who know how to play the game and who come from the right sort of background. The two mentioned here would fall into that category.

To be honest, I was disappointed that Giles didn't get offered Durham. I realise that Giles would regard me as one of those uppity oiks with pretensions above their station in life who clutter up the Internet saying stuff that really should be left to those with an Oxford lectureship and a regular column in "The Church Times" (a view he made known about six years back), but, in my opinion, he would have still been a more accommodating bishop than the fast-tracked evangelical we've ended up with. But, on the other hand, there are a lot of similarities between Giles Fraser  and the pre-archepiscopal Rowan Williams, so if I was in the diocese or cathedral that he will get as his reward (which will happen, sooner rather than later) I would not celebrate his arrival until he has faced his first major attack from the haters.