Elect James Sherwin-Smith to represent Nationwide building society members
I gave the following speech to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Investment Fraud & Fairer Financial Services at the Palace of Westminster on Monday 15th June 2026. A sample of the slides used in a presentation to the Transparency Task Force on Tuesday 9th June 2026 also accompanied my speech – see TTF event […]
12 ways Nationwide Building Society has biased the 2026 election with an electorate of 9.3 million people against me – and some notable 🥇Firsts along the way. 1. Using the #QuickVote when there is a Member Nominated Candidate on the Ballot. A🥇First for Nationwide, maybe for all Building Societies? There hasn’t been a Member Nominated […]
Bigger image size: 2026 Nationwide AGM James Sherwin-Smith Paper Voting Form instructions A few weeks ago I wrote an article asking: Will ballot design matter in Nationwide’s 2026 Board Election? At the time, I did not know how the voting form would look. Now I do. Members began receiving their voting packs this week and […]
I recently presented to the Transparency Task Force on the theme of member democracy in building societies. The full video is here The presentation explored why mutual organisations matter, why active member participation is essential to good governance, and how my campaign to become the first Member Nominated Candidate on Nationwide’s board ballot in over […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
First Member Nominated Candidate at Nationwide for more than 20 years
• Nationwide removed website addresses and QR code from Election Address before distributing it to Members
• Historic Nationwide AGM materials show previous Member Nominated Candidates were permitted to publish websites, email addresses, postal addresses and telephone numbers
• Candidate asks why different standards now apply
LONDON, 11 June 2026 – James Sherwin-Smith, the first Member Nominated Candidate to stand for election to the Board of Nationwide Building Society in more than twenty years, has asked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to investigate changes made by Nationwide to his Election Address after discovering that previous Member Nominated Candidates were allowed to publish extensive contact information in Society voting materials.
Questions that James has written to both Nationwide and Civica Election Services (CES), the Society’s “independent” scrutineer, seeking information regarding the conduct of the election and their responses.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Voting has formally opened in Nationwide Building Society’s 2026 AGM election. However, questions remain regarding both ballot access and the administration of the election process. 10 JUNE 2026, LONDON – James Sherwin-Smith, the first Member Nominated Candidate to stand for Election to the Board of Nationwide Building Society in more than 20 […]
[↩️ Mobile users may want to rotate to landscape viewing, or click images to see full size: Society redactions, my alternative and my original Election Address.] As voting papers begin arriving with Nationwide Members, I believe it is important to explain a dispute that has arisen between myself and Nationwide regarding my Election Address and […]
James Sherwin-Smith, a member-nominated candidate for the board, is crying foul about the way the building society is organising the vote By Ben MartinThursday June 04 2026, 8.50pm, The Times Link: https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/nationwide-building-society-vote-james-sherwin-smith-rst096r25 Ask Dame Debbie Crosbie, chief executive of the customer-owned Nationwide Building Society, whether the mutual is open to members joining its board and her […]
James Sherwin-Smith, who is attempting to secure a board seat but is locked in a dispute with the building society, has complained to the FCA By Guy TaylorThursday June 04 2026, 4.40pm, The Times Link: https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/nationwide-building-society-sherwin-smith-5x8kwgnh8 A Nationwide customer pushing for a seat on the building society’s board has urged Britain’s financial regulator to intervene after […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Member Candidate says Nationwide blocked warning on Quick Vote days before AGM ballots issued • Candidate requested permission to tell Members not to use Quick Vote if they wished to support his election • Request refused despite Board decision to recommend Members vote against him • Website address and QR code removed […]
Last month, Navendu Mishra MP (Labour & Co-operative, Stockport) submitted three important written Parliamentary Questions to HM Treasury about the future governance of Building Societies.
Yesterday, all three received exactly the same response from the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Rachel Blake MP…
Public Statement – Saturday 30th May 2026 I’m grateful to Jasper Jolly for the article published this past Friday surrounding this year’s Board election process: Nationwide customer seeking election to board hits out at lender for ‘unfair’ treatment (The Guardian). One issue raised in the article is particularly important. Nationwide has refused requests to amend […]
James Sherwin-Smith says field tilted against him after decision to give members ‘quick vote’ against candidacy.
He said the move to make a vote against him the default was a “dangerous precedent for mutuals and democratic governance”. The Labour MP Navendu Mishra last week criticised “emerging governance issues” across the building society sector. Nationwide has also blocked Sherwin-Smith from […]
[UPDATE 28th May, 19:36 I have now obtained a copy of Nationwide’s “reactive media statement” briefing against my candidacy. I urge supporters to review my below responses and — with regards to Note 4 in Nationwide’s statement — to consider my response on the quick vote here: Fact checking Nationwide’s statement re ’emerging governance issues’.] […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nationwide picks “unfair fight” with Member board candidate LONDON, May 28th, 2026 — James Sherwin-Smith, the only Member Nominated Candidate for the Nationwide Board, is urging Nationwide to rethink its decision on Board recommendations. It comes as the building society today confirmed the Member Nominated Candidate will not be recommended for election […]
The rebel member of Nationwide campaigning to join the mutual’s board has hit out at Britain’s biggest building society over its handling of the vote.
Nationwide confirmed in April that Sherwin-Smith had enough nominations from other customers to have his candidacy put to a vote. But the society has yet […]
James has been featured on the following podcasts. Spotify embeds below, but these can be found on other podcast platforms e.g. Apple, Buzzsprout etc. In The Company of Mavericks Episode 136: released 20th May 2026 – full interview City AM Business as Usual Episode 17: released 26th May 2026 – interview at 3m 25s Episode […]
There are 16.4 million Members of Nationwide, and of those, 9.1 million eligible Members can vote in the run up to the virtual-only AGM on 15th July 2026. Voting opens when voting forms are distributed, which is expected in early/mid June. Last year, 670,000 Members voted. I’m hoping that this year, with a choice available […]
Not since the keen-eyed Inspector Goole shattered the comfortable illusions of the Edwardian elite has an uninvited guest threatened to sour a private feast’s mood so sharply.
James Sherwin-Smith, the man attempting to clinch a seat at that exclusive dinner party otherwise known as Nationwide’s board could be just […]
My thanks to Samuel Norman and the team at City AM for the coverage on the Business As Usual podcast today. We talked about You can listen to the episode via YouTube below (starts 3m32s) or these podcast platform: Spotify, Apple, Buzzsprout. This post was also shared on Facebook, LinkedIn and X/Twitter.
A spokesperson for Nationwide made a series of statements in today’s article in The Guardian reporting of Nav Mishra MP’s letter sent to the Nationwide chairman, Kevin Parry. I think these statements are worth placing in context – both in terms of the timeline of the pertinent events, and the corresponding data. I will leave […]
Labour MP writes to chair amid concerns building societies are overusing quick votes and failing to add members to boards Kalyeena Makortoff. Banking correspondentSun 24 May 2026 12.00 BST Link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/24/nationwide-governance-agm-building-societies-boards Nationwide is under pressure to address “emerging governance issues” across the building society sector, amid concerns bosses are bundling voting options and failing to […]
Great news for a subset of Members — but million still miss out on their share of the mutual’s profits As I expected, Nationwide has today announced a fourth consecutive Fairer Share payment, with around 4.4 million members expected to receive £100 in June, alongside a new 5% Member Exclusive Bond and a £175 current […]
21 May 2026, London — Following publication of Nationwide’s 2026 Preliminary Results (LSE Regulatory News Service), James Sherwin-Smith, a Member Nominated Candidate for election to Nationwide’s Board of Directors in 2026, commented: Nationwide’s latest preliminary results confirm that the Society remains financially strong and continues to gain in scale following the Virgin Money acquisition, alongside […]
James Sherwin-Smith & Why Every Member Should Exercise Their Democratic Right to Vote Understand the important role mutuals play in UK retail banking I enjoyed talking to Jeremy McKeown on his podcast “In The Company Of Mavericks”, out today. We covered: If you’re interested in the stories behind the headlines in Financial Services and personal […]
Members were never given a say on the mutual’s biggest takeover since it was founded in 1884 — now they are going to see whether it was worth it Ben Martin, Banking Editor Sunday May 17 2026, 2.40pm Link: https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/nationwide-results-virgin-merger-integration-member-director-57bt8tfbh When Nationwide revealed in March 2024 that it was spending £2.9 billion snapping up Virgin […]
Patrick Tooher, Consultant City EditorUpdated: 11:45, 17 May 2026 Link: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-15823361/Another-100-bag-Nationwide-members.html Nationwide will announce another £100 profit-sharing bonus for each of its more than four million eligible members when it posts annual results on Thursday. It will be the fourth year running that Britain’s biggest building society has made the payment under its Fairer Share […]
A decade after Theresa May spoke of radical reform, the mutual faces a bid that is testing the limits of democracy Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondentSun 17 May 2026 11.00 BST Link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/may/17/nationwide-customer-boardroom-corporate-governance-mutual [NB The Monday 18th May 2026 print edition carried an abridged version, shown below. The full text follows beneath. Accompanying posts made on […]
A number of “one member, one vote” organisations in the UK have adopted the use of the ‘Quick vote’ (QV) mechanism – see Restore Trust’s 2023 report (The effect of the Quick Vote on democracy at the National Trust). In most cases this has not been specifically agreed by the membership, but instead co-opted by […]