Press release from the Prime Minister’s Office
Appointment of Second Church Estates Commissioner: 7 October 2024
The King has approved the nomination of Marsha de Cordova, Member of Parliament for Battersea, to be appointed as Second Church Estates Commissioner.
From: Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street
Published 7 October 2024The King has approved the nomination of Marsha de Cordova, Member of Parliament for Battersea, to be appointed as Second Church Estates Commissioner
Marsha de Cordova is the Labour MP for Battersea, and has been an MP since 8 June 2017.
She was educated at London South Bank University studying Law and European Policy Studies. She was born with Nystagmus and is registered blind.
She has worked for numerous charities including Action for Blind People and Thomas Pocklington Trust before founding the charity South East London Vision (SELVis) in 2014. She was elected as a Labour Party councillor for the Larkhall ward on Lambeth Council in 2014.
Marsha has served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities and Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions) (Disabled People). She also served on the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Petitions Committee.
There is also a press release from the Church Commissoners.
The Second Church Estates Commissioner answers oral and written questions from MPs in the House of Commons about Church of England matters, is a member of Parliament’s Ecclesiastical Committee, and guides Church of England legislation through the House of Commons. She will be a member of the Church Commissioners’ Board of Governors and an ex-officio member of the General Synod.
The Church Times report, https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/11-october/news/uk/marsha-de-cordova-appointed-second-church-estates-commissioner includes some additional information: In an interview with the Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron, on Premier Radio in 2021, she described discovering Christian faith during her twenties after being invited to a church. It was the account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples that had proved pivotal, she said. She considered her election in a seat deemed unwinnable in 2017 to be “God-breathed”: “That was my calling to public service by the Lord, and I will do so for as long as he wants me in that position.” She has attended Holy Trinity,… Read more »
An appointment much to be welcomed. Marsha is a delightful person in every way. Here’s hoping she gets a fair hearing on TA despite being a member of the HTB network. Her predecessor was never criticised despite not being a member of the C of E!
Now I’m genuinely speechless, Charles. People with disabilities aren’t usually on the HTB network’s ’people of prominence’ Christmas card list. Nowhere near shiny and perfect enough to be upfront in any way…but then again, in HTB power play she is a congregant rather than a key leader…
Good to see a person who publicly identifies as disabled finally in a senior lay role in the Church. Time to see a senior disabled or deaf cleric now??
“Her predecessor was never criticised despite not being a member of the C of E!” So that’s why I liked him. Just joking.
One only hopes she is not awe struck by charismatic leaders who have been responsible for quite a lot of “little local difficulties” over the past decade.
It’s been a while coming but in the end it looks like a promising appointment.
I hope that you are right, Kate. Time will tell but the appointment as the principal interface between the CofE and the House of Commons of a person whose main experience of our faith appears to have been at an HTB plant fills me with severe misgivings.
Personally I don’t care where she goes to church! What I am delighted about is that her faith and vocation has led her into politics where the Christian voice is much needed – and that she wants to be this interface between the Church of England and its parliament. This role is a calling! If she went to All Saints Margaret Street, she would be excoriated for the same misgivings or commended for her good taste. If she went to a “Save the Parish” Church she would be treated with suspicion by others or celebrated for her wisdom. Let us… Read more »
I agree. I wish her well, but I get a bit anxious when I read “God-breathed”.
I’m just hoping,for your sake that you don”t find yourself confronted by the hymn ‘breath on me breath of god’ It might make you too anxious!
me too!
I don’t share those concerns other than wondering if she might help support the creation of a third (virtual?) province, something which I feel would be dangerous. With others, I am just glad that a lady of very obvious faith has been appointed.
Re the delay in announcing the appointment, the report in the Church Times includes this paragraph: “The announcement of her appointment this week ends the longest wait for a Second Church Estates Commissioner since the office was established in 1948 (News, 6 September). More than three months have passed since the General Election. It is understood, however, that her appointment was decided in July.” This is not the only recent church appointment announcement from 10 Downing Street that was delayed. It seems that the new Government considered there were more important matters to attend to in their first three months… Read more »
According to the data on Peter Owen’s incomparable website of episcopal appointments, the gap between the final CNC meeting (in whichever diocese) and the announcement from Downing Street is about nine weeks. Currently. there’s only one pending announcement – the diocese of Coventry, where the final meeting was 11/12 September. That would mean an announcement in late November. It will be interesting to see if it’s delayed because Downing Street doesn’t give it much importance, so the Bishop of Taunton may have to wait quite some more time before discovering if she’s got a seat in the House of Lords… Read more »
I’m delighted by this appointment as Marsha was my MP and a strong supporter of our ministry in Battersea. I don’t think her membership of an HTB church should lead anyone to second guess her opinions on matters of controversy in the church. I found her to be highly inclusive, although she came in for some nasty personal criticism while in the Equalities role by some in the Labour Party who wanted her to take their view on trans rights. She decided to step back from front bench roles and concentrate on constituency work, and she has transformed a highly… Read more »
That’s good to hear, Simon. I wish her well and look forward to seeing how she handles questions in the Commons next Monday – a challenging undertaking from a standing start!
She seems to believe she has been miraculously and divinely appointed an MP. This conceit is a form of Popery. I think Mr Trump claimed the same.
Labour won in Battersea in 1997, 2001, and 2005. Battersea was very strongly pro-EU in the Referendum. It hardly took a miracle for a Labour candidate to be elected in 2017.
That an active member of the Church be the interface hardly gives confidence in her impartiality. A non-member might be more neutral.
Isn’t that a bit OTT? it’s hardly the same as believing your are “God’s Vicar on earth” It seems no more than believing that God can be involved in our lives and listening for his voice in what goes on. In the whole of Christian history this hardly counts as unusual. Hebrews 11:6 would suggest it’s a good thing; that God involved personally with his children. It’s faith… essential even. I can’t see a neutral being automatically better. Is anyone ever actually that? I’d like to see a Christian (with integrity) do the job rather than someone who isn’t one.… Read more »
The second church estates commissioner (as are all lay church commissioners, other than office holders) is required to be a member of the Church of England or of a Church which subscribes to the doctrine of the Holy Trinity: para 6(a) of Schedule 1 to the Church Commissioners Measure 1947 (as amended).
Since she attends Holy Trinity Clapham under the auspices of Holy Trinity Brompton she would seem to qualify!
A Christian woman talks of a pivotal moment in her journey of faith as the washing of the feet, and how she saw god calling her to a life ot public service, using poetic language in her restimony, and you call it Popery? Well, if you are right then Long live the Pope!
I for one am disappointed that they couldn’t find a gel who’d attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College and studied something useful such as PPE at Oxford. This young lady seems under qualified for the Church of England.
And her brother’s a Premier League footballer, so maybe he can get Keir some tickets!
Marsha de Cordova’s public record on trans rights is less than whole-hearted (and there is speculation that this is what led to her stepping down as Shadow Equalities Secretary), so there will be people (myself included) who are less than enthusiastic about her appointment in this role. (But I am long accustomed to Christians not really caring much about trans people, I’m afraid…)
From Surviving Church
https://survivingchurch.org/2024/10/07/open-letter-to-the-new-second-estates-commissioner-marsha-de-cordova-labour-mp-for-battersea-balham-wandsworth/
I watched online the new Commissioner answer questions in the HoC this morning. She was confident and friendly, being congratulated by most questioners on her appointment. She was clearly reading from a folder answers that had been provided by someone else, and doing so surprisingly easily for someone who is registered blind. I expect that reading pre-prepared answers has been the case more often than not in the past, but it would be good if she was able to put her own spin on things once she has gained experience and sat through a few Synod meetings. Bizarrely, she was… Read more »