He was before he was consecrated Bishop of Maidstone in 2015, with a brief to provide episcopal oversight for conservative evangelical churches, opposed to women bishops around England, on the executive committee of the Anglican Mission in England, set up in 2011 to spearhead new orthodox churches outside the CofE's structures. It was right to step out of that role when he was consecrated Bishop in order to focus on building relationships in dioceses, which he has successfully done.

He said if it had really been listening to the poor it would not have been surprised by the Brexit vote and the concerns of those who 'feel frozen out'.

The bishop's attack follows the embarrassment of senior Church leaders headed by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby after voters disregarded their appeals to vote to remain in the EU in the June referendum.

Now that these Conversations are over, the question floating in the breeze is, "Where do we go from here?" The radical wing has its objective, which it seeks to achieve by salami-slicing opposition to its agenda and by planting facts on the ground while the Guardians of Christian doctrine - the Bishops - are as usual looking the other way. The game plan will be familiar to anyone who has followed the story in the Episcopal Church, USA, or the Anglican Church in Canada.

Reform is a conservative evangelical group within the Church of England that teach the "infallibility and supreme authority" of the Bible and it has objected to the appointment of female bishops in 2014. The group also preaches against sex outside of a heterosexual marriage.

It was also reported that more younger people attend the churches linked to the conservative group. Only 18 percent of the congregation were aged over 70 compared to 30 percent in the whole Church of England.