[3] The post became vacant in 2015 on the resignation of Graham Kings, who had been consecrated in a special service at Westminster Abbey on 24 June 2009 by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury.
[5][6] The present incumbent is the Right Reverend Karen Gorham, the first woman to have held the position.
Before being ordained she held administrative posts with the Business and Technology Education Council and with the Royal Society of Arts.
From 1995 to 1999 she served as a curate in the parish of Northallerton with Kirby Sigston in the Diocese of York, and was ordained priest in 1996.
[1] Welcoming her, the Very Revd June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury, stated: "The last year has been a significant year for women in the ministry of the Church of England and this is a historic moment for the Diocese of Salisbury as its welcomes its first woman bishop.