The Rt Revd Nick Baines became the first Bishop of Leeds, an area covering West Yorkshire & the Dales, in June 2014.
Nick Baines was previously Bishop of Bradford (2011-14), and before that was Bishop of Croydon (in the Diocese of Southwark). He read German and French at Bradford University and, before ordination, worked for four years as a Russian linguist at GCHQ.
Bishop Nick retired from being the Bishop of Leeds in December 2025. The Rt Revd Toby Howarth, Bishop of Bradford, is the Acting Bishop of Leeds.
Biography
Nick Baines was born in 1957 in Liverpool where he attended Holt Comprehensive School. He gained a BA in German & French from Bradford University in 1980, and, prior to his ordination, was a specialist in modern languages, working briefly in Germany and France and then for four years at GCHQ as a Russian Linguist.
He trained for the ministry at Trinity College, Bristol and after ordination in 1988 gained wide parish experience, including city centre, market town, rural village and commuter village. He served his curacies in the Diocese of Carlisle and then the Diocese of Leicester where he remained as Vicar of Rothley for eight years as well as being Rural Dean of Goscote. He became Archdeacon of Lambeth in 2000, Bishop of Croydon (in the Diocese of Southwark) in 2003 and Bishop of Bradford in April 2011.
From 1995 he served for nearly 10 years on the General Synod - on the Board of Mission, Partnership for World Mission and to the Crown Appointments Commission Review Group.