First woman bishop is mother-of-two and Manchester United fan

Libby Lane, the new Bishop of Stockport, is a saxophone-playing, Oxford-educated Manchester United fan with a husband and two grown-up children.

Her appointment ends centuries of male dominance at the head of the Church, and was by Lane's own admission "a long time coming".

The 48-year-old was educated at St Peter's College, Oxford before training for the ministry at Cranmer Hall in Durham.

She was ordained as a priest in 1993 and has been a bishop's selection advisor since 2003 - though was not herself eligible to become a bishop until one month ago.

Her husband George is a chaplain at Manchester Airport and the pair were among the first married couple in the Church of England to be ordained together. Their children are now both in higher education.

Lane leaves her current position as vicar at St Peter's Hale and St Elizabeth's Ashley, which she has held since 2007.