Let him stand (The Times)

From today’s edition (31 March 2026) of The Times, Patrick Hosking, Financial Editor, writes in his business column:

Let him stand

“James Sherwin-Smith may or may not be a suitable director of the Nationwide Building Society. But what should not be in doubt is his right to put his name forward as a candidate.

“Yesterday the former consultant hand-delivered 340 nomination forms plus a £500
application cheque (non-refundable if he fails to win 5 per cent of the votes) to the society in his second attempt to make it on to the candidate list. He needs 250 valid forms to get his name put to the 16 million members at the annual meeting on July 15.

“Nationwide seems to be going out of its way to put every obstacle in his way. Of course it has to weed out vexatious applications, but it is certainly being zealous in finding obscure rules to stymie him. His backers have to provide physical signatures, not digital ones, a requirement the society does not even expect from its own mortgage borrowers. And it is refusing to explain the reason why in cases where it disqualifies his nominees.

“Nationwide hasn’t had a member-nominated board member for 24 years. Maybe its treatment of Sherwin-Smith explains exactly why it needs one.”