The new Bishop of Huntingdon was officially announced today (Tuesday) and the post-holder is to be the first female bishop in East Anglia.

The Queen approved the nomination of Canon Dr Dagmar Winter, the former rector of Hexham, in the Diocese of Newcastle, to the Suffragan See of Huntingdon in the Diocese of Ely.

The announcement was made from Downing Street.

Dr Winter will take the title Bishop of Huntingdon, working alongside the Bishop of Ely, the Right Reverend Stephen Conway, across the whole diocese which comprises Cambridgeshire, parts of Norfolk, Peterborough, and some adjacent parishes.

Dr Winter said: "I am honoured and delighted to have been invited to become the seventh Bishop of Huntingdon. The fens will be quite a different experience to the Northumberland uplands for me and I can't wait to meet people from the varied communities across the breadth of the diocese.

"I have a particular passion for rural and market town ministry, and I am impressed with the diocesan vision and will to grasp the great opportunities there are.

"Cambridge and its universities make a distinct contribution which I deeply appreciate and I hope to build further on relationships here.

"There is a remarkable connection between Hexham and Ely: Etheldreda gave the land for the building of Hexham Abbey and in Ely she founded a monastery on the site which is now Ely Cathedral. I believe this legacy of generosity and prayerful commitment is rooted in the life-affirming, encouraging and inspiring love of God which we see in Jesus Christ, and I look forward to working with Bishop Stephen and many others to share this."

The Bishop of Ely, Stephen Conway, said: "I am so thankful to God that our process of discernment has given us Dagmar Winter to be the next bishop of Huntingdon. Her gifts and experience in ministry are a splendid match with our role description and our ambition to be fully alive. She is first and foremost a fine pastor.

"I admire what she has contributed both locally and nationally to the church's engagement with rural life. Her talents as a theologian and biblical scholar will bring real benefits to us and to the College of Bishops. I am praying for our visible and generous ministry together as bishops within the established team serving the diocese."

The next Bishop of Huntingdon will be consecrated on July 3 at St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Dr Winter is of British and Swiss-German descent and studied theology at various universities including Aberdeen and Heidelberg, where she completed a PhD in New Testament studies.

Dr Winter succeeds the Right Reverend David Thomson who resigned on October 31, last year.