Philip Giddings is a British retired political scientist and academic, specialising in parliamentary government.
Before his retirement, he served as director of the university's Centre for Ombudsman and Governance Studies and Head of its School of Politics and International Relations.
[2] In his position as leader of the House of Laity in the Church of England, Giddings was instrumental in the defeat of a motion for the ordination of women as bishops in late 2012.
The no-confidence motion was defeated in January 2013, though Giddings said that the vote of a sizeable minority against him would lead him to consider "how to proceed from here".
[3][4][5] Giddings also took a stand against the proposed appointment of Jeffrey John as Bishop of Reading, saying that "practising homosexuals cannot hold a position of leadership" in the Church of England.