Election to the Council

Have your say on candidates to be elected to the Council

About the Council

The main responsibilities of the Council are to appoint the Trust’s Chair, Deputy Chair and members of the Board of Trustees (our governing body) and to hold them to account.

The Council is comprised of 36 members, 18 members are elected directly by you and 18 are appointed by organisations (‘Appointing Bodies’) which you elect every six years (click here for details of this election). The Chair is also a member of the Council. All Council members are volunteers and each serves a term of three years, with approximately one third of the positions being filled each year.

The annual report from the Council is published within the Trust’s Annual Report and Financial Statements. For more information about the Council and who its members are, visit our website here.

About the election and this year’s criteria

The National Trust’s constitution requires the Council to hold an election each year, to identify members who would meet its needs over the next three years, and to recommend those candidates best suited to meet these needs.

The election process is managed on behalf of the Council by its Nominations Committee. This year’s members were Martin Nye (Chair), Jim Dixon, Sally Hunt and Jas Rai (independent external member).

The Nominations Committee’s task is to recommend to you those candidates who most closely meet the criteria agreed by the Council. This year the Council sought applications from people who met the general skills and experience criteria detailed in the Governance Handbook, which is available here.

The Council is also keen to support the Trust’s strategic ‘Everyone Welcome’ priority by improving diversity generally across its non-executive community.

This year we expect six vacancies, with successful candidates joining the Council for three years from the date of the AGM.

This year we expect six vacancies, with successful candidates joining the Council for three years from the date of the AGM.

Find out more on the next page >

The Nominations Committee's recommendations

This year the Nominations Committee received a record number of applications to stand for election. The Committee was extremely impressed by the level of support for, and interest in, the Trust and the quality of the applications received. The Nominations Committee would like to thank all members who submitted an application.

In reaching its recommendation the Nominations Committee sought to identify those candidates who met a range of the required criteria, demonstrated a clear passion for the Trust and between them offer the optimal balance of skills that the Council is looking for.

The six recommended candidates are:

Nuthana Bhayankaram
Sarah Green
Min Grimshaw
Mark Horton
Sandy Nairne
Joshua Rice

While the Nominations Committee has made its recommendations, you can, of course, vote for whoever you choose.

How to vote

The profiles of all candidates are set out here:

Candidates A - F

Candidates G - O

Candidates P - Z

Voting in this election can only be done in advance of the AGM. Voting closes at 11:59pm on 25 October.

Vote here

Find out more about voting and registering to attend here