The Right Reverend David Williams

The Right Reverend David Williams has lived in Hampshire for 17 years. After 13 years as a Vicar in Winchester, he was appointed Bishop of Basingstoke in 2014. With a background in Social Policy, David has been eager to forge good community links. He has worked with the Hampshire Hospitals Trust and Winchester Prison. There are 200 Anglican Churches across North Hampshire and David has sought to become familiar with the communities in which the Churches are set; in the last four years he has visited every settlement, village and town in North Hampshire.

Regular meetings with the leadership of the five Borough Councils has been helpful in understanding the enormous potential and some of the challenges facing Hampshire. As Bishop of Basingstoke, he has a particular affinity with Basingstoke and Deane – and the aspirations around the visionary growth of the town. David has just finished a term of office as Chaplain to the Mayor of Test Valley, eager to affirm the remarkable developments in Andover.

David has developed a particular interest in education, serving as a Governor of Winchester University, the Chair of a local Multi-Academy Trust and a Governor of Peter Symonds College. As a bishop he is indirectly involved with the 152 Church of England Primary schools in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.