Tim Dakin

Episcopal ministry His appointment as Bishop of Winchester was announced on 6 September 2011 and he legally became bishop with the confirmation of his election on 20 December 2011, ahead of his 25 January consecration by Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, at St Paul's Cathedral. His installation at Winchester Cathedral was on 21 April and he was introduced in the House of Lords on 26 March. After John Taylor in 1974, he was only the second priest to be consecrated directly to the See of Winchester since 1595. In May 2013, Dakin was additionally appointed the Bishop for Higher and Further Education, a national spokesperson role.

As Bishop of Winchester he was the visitor to five Oxford colleges including Magdalen College, Oxford, New College, Oxford, and St John's College, Oxford. He also held ex officio the position of prelate of the Order of the Garter.

Channel Islands controversy The Channel Islands had been under the oversight of the bishops of Winchester since the 16th century. In 2013, Dakin commissioned a report (the Steel Report) into alleged abuse by Channel Islands clergy, which found that there should be no disciplinary action against anyone. The full content of the report has never been published. after relations between Dakin and the Deanery of Jersey broke down over the handling of the alleged abuse, and the suspension of the Dean of Jersey, Bob Key. The deaneries of Jersey and Guernsey were transferred to the direct oversight of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Dean of Jersey was reinstated, with Archbishop Justin Welby subsequently issuing an apology to the dean and his wife "for the hurt and the treatment that they had received".

In the face of continued poor relations, the Archbishop of Canterbury formed a special commission in June 2018, under the chairmanship of a former Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, The motion was not tabled, following Dakin's decision to "step back". The motion additionally described administrative and financial management in the diocese as "unfit for purpose".

Dakin's period of "stepping back" was later extended to the end of August. The Church Times reported on 29 June that the facilitated conversations, or commentary upon them, had led to a wider discussion concerning "the culture of the diocese".

On 29 January 2022, at Evensong in Winchester Cathedral, Dakin laid down his pastoral staff in preparation for his formal retirement on 6 February 2022, his 64th birthday.

Francis Baring, 6th Baron Northbrook, speaking in the House of Lords, gave Dakin as an example of lack of quality control in the appointment of bishops.

In retirement Since 2022 he has held permission to officiate in the Diocese of Exeter; he is not an honorary assistant bishop in the diocese. He is also a co-opted member of the board of governors at Plymouth Marjon University, his alma mater, formerly known as the University of St Mark and St John.

Views Dakin was a committee member of the Evangelical Group of the General Synod of the Church of England. In March 2014, the group sent an email to its members about the introduction of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, saying that the committee members believed that "appropriate sacramental discipline should apply to those who choose to enter into any sexual relationship other than within marriage between a man and a woman". He has been described as having a "conservative theology".

Personal life Dakin is married to the Reverend Sally Dakin and they have two children.