London, England - Archbishop Rowan Williams of Wales is the favorite among delegates to the governing synod of the Church of England to be the new archbishop of Canterbury, a survey by The Times showed.
The synod does not elect the archbishop but it provides six of 13 members on the commission that will recommend two nominees to Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Williams, 51, a former Oxford University theology professor, is among the more liberal prospects to succeed George Carey, who is retiring in October as spiritual leader to the world's 77 million Anglicans. Williams would be the first non-English primate in three centuries.
According to the responses from 220 of 516 synod delegates, 28 percent support Williams, 19 percent back Rochester's Pakistan-born Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali and 13 percent were for London's Bishop Richard Chartres. Bishops James Lones of Liverpool and Christopher Herbert of St. Albans had 8 percent each.
After Blair chooses between the two finalists, Queen Elizabeth II makes the formal appointment.