James Sherwin-Smith

Is a #MVNO deemed critical national infrastructure? Hopefully @DCMS will investigate and enquire as to what went wrong. #OperationalResilience matters. How hard is it to send customers a SMS to say “We’re down. We’re on it.” sky.com/help/servicestatus/m…

Inspired by the cartoons of Alan Baker (check out his feed), this weekend we have launched the #slowVOTE campaign – a simple campaign designed to encourage Members to pause, consider their options, but ultimately #VOTE. Last year: 🚫 92% of eligible #Nationwide Members didn't vote, ⚡️ 7% used the infamous #QuickVote, ✅ 1% exercised their own judgement i.e. #slowVOTE'd. Too often, voting forms are completed in seconds. Members receive an email, click through, make a decision with little opportunity to consider the candidates or what is at stake. #slowVOTE encourages something different. Read. Think. Decide. Vote. We're simply asking Members to slow down, learn a little more about this #Board #Election, and make an informed choice. Because this year there actually is one, for the first time in 21 years: me - a Member Nominated Candidate. To kickstart the campaign we've launched a competition. £100 x2 to be won for the best creative and most popular #slowVOTE content. 🔗 Learn more at slowVOTE.com Cc @kalyeena Makortoff (The @guardian) @TomSaunders (The @Telegraph) @Benjaminwmartin (@thetimes) @PatrickTooher (@DailyMail) @samnormanwrites (@CityAM) @MarkKleinmanSky (@SkyNews) Prof. Andrew Johnston (@Warwick_Law) Prof. @EilisFerran (Cambridge) Dr. @MonicaFranco_S (Cranfield) Mark Northway @ShareSocUK @ca_howarth, CEO, #ShareAction @DavidWDuffy, Founder, thecorporategovernanceinstit… @AndrewSpeke, Interim Director, @HighPayCentre @BSABuildingSocs Association @gareththomasMP (chair of the APPG #Mutuals) Peter Hunt, Founder, Mutuo.coop (secretariat of same) @johnmcdonnellMP (chair of the APPG Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services) Andy Agathangelou, Founder, @TransparencyTF (secretariat of the same)

Yesterday in Parliament, Government time was requested to debate the Building Societies Act 1986. I'd argue that - like me - it is showing its age and needs some work. youtube.com/watch?v=TEtArHR8… Navendu Mishra MP (Stockport, @UKLabour) praised the example of @VernonStockport - “truly, a #mutual, owned by #members, not shareholders.” He then turned to concerns regarding meaningful democratic governance, @askNationwide in particular: the choice of a #virtualOnlyAGM, the lack of Member Nominated Directors, and the infamous “#QuickVote” mechanism (see slowvote.com). This builds on letters he wrote on 1st May to the Chancellor (@RachelReevesMP), the Chairman of Nationwide Building Society (Kevin Parry OBE) - who are both expected to step down imminently - and written questions that were answered by the Economic Secretary to @hmtreasury (@RNBlake MP - a member of both the Labour *and @CoopParty*) submitted by both himself and @libdemdaisy (Deputy Leader of the Liberal-Democrats, Treasury spokesperson) james4nationwide.co.uk/more-… Cc @kalyeena Makortoff (The @guardian) @TomSaunders (The @Telegraph ) @Benjaminwmartin (@thetimes ) @PatrickTooher (@DailyMail) @samnormanwrites (@CityAM) @MarkKleinmanSky (@SkyNews) Prof. Andrew Johnston (@Warwick_Law) Prof. @EilisFerran (Cambridge) Dr. @MonicaFranco_S (Cranfield) @ca_howarth, CEO, #ShareAction @DavidWDuffy, Founder, thecorporategovernanceinstit… @AndrewSpeke, Interim Director, @HighPayCentre @DitchburnDarren, CEO, Vernon Building Society @Debbiecrosbie1, CEO, Nationwide Building Society Sarah Harrison, CEO, @BSABuildingSocs Association @gareththomasMP (chair of the APPG #Mutuals) Peter Hunt, Founder, Mutuo.coop (secretariat of same) @johnmcdonnellMP (chair of the APPG Investment Fraud and Fairer Financial Services) Andy Agathangelou, Founder, @TransparencyTF (secretariat of the same) youtube.com/watch?v=TEtArHR8…

Thank you @CooperativesUK for hosting me on Friday - I had to edit my badge as it said @AskNationwide Building Society! I loved the Day 1 energy and content, I hope Day 2 was also a success. I know how much works goes into preparing and hosting events like these - so CONGRATS to all. It was a pleasure to talk with Andrea Melville (CEO) and Maria Cearns (COO) @CooperativeBank as part of the Customer Union (saveourbank.coop) event. Refreshing to see the C-suite of a household name meet with customers (and soon-to-be-member owners) and take their questions head on. 👏 A pleasure to met and connect with others representing the #Cooperative movement including @CoopParty, amongst others. #CoopCongress

.@AoDespair & @WendellPierce long time follower and fan of your respective work, particularly #TheWire 🚨 & #Treme 🎺. Both got me through some low times. Would really appreciate any help you can offer fighting for stronger democratic rights for members of the world’s largest building society, @AskNationwide in the UK. This David v £400bn Goliath fight means I need to mobilise 9.3m eligible voters. Last year <8% voted, and 87% of them used a device called the #QuickVote. The QV is a single check box at the top of the ballot that gives all your voting power to the Chairman of the Board. This year that means a vote ‘Against’ me and ‘For’ the Board’s own candidates. I’m the first person in over 20 years to provide a choice on the ballot, representing ordinarily members as their own member-nominated candidate. Learn more at James4Nationwide.co.uk Would really appreciate a RT, and in return I’ll gladly send you a T-shirt, cap, mug whatever with the below DNUTQV slogan as a thank you. “A man must have a code.” Go well.

Two articles in @thetimes today. The first Member Nominated Candidate to reach a @AskNationwide ballot in more than 20 years. The Financial Editor of The Times @Benjaminwmartin says Nationwide has "tilted the playing field" against me. #Voting papers begin landing with Members next week - DO NOT USE THE QUICK VOTE. This campaign is no longer just about one candidate. It's about whether #MemberOwned organisations genuinely listen to the people who own them. If you believe Members deserve a real choice: ✅ Subscribe for campaign updates ✅ Share the campaign with other Nationwide Members ✅ Vote when your ballot arrives Join us: james4nationwide.co.uk/socia… #Nationwide #MemberVoice #Mutuals #CorporateGovernance

Update: @TheFCA has now formally acknowledged my request for urgent intervention regarding the fairness of @askNationwide's 2026 Board election process. “We are aware of the urgency of your request and we will respond fully as soon as we are able.” My thanks to @theFCA for acknowledging this so quicky, after I filed a concern on Saturday morning after #Nationwide finally denied my requests by email at 18:11 Friday evening. This is now fundamentally about whether Members in a #mutual organisation are entitled to a fair election process and an unaltered #Election Address under the #BuildingSocieties Act. See if you can #SpotTheDifference in the attached: (A) is as per my website (21 April 2026) on the basis that the Board would suspend the Quick Vote, vs. (B) is what I requested, given the Board has not only kept the #QuickVote, but also used it to gather votes from Members AGAINST me. Further updates will follow here: james4nationwide.co.uk/membe…

Today’s coverage in The Times highlights a simple but important issue at the heart of this year’s @askNationwide Building Society board election: #transparency and fair #memberengagement. I’m proud to have become the first Member Nominated Candidate to reach the ballot at #Nationwide in over 20 years. But key decisions about the conduct of the #election — including whether the board will recommend my candidacy and how the vote itself will operate — have been unresolved for some time. For a #mutual organisation owned by its #members, #openness and proper scrutiny matter. This election is bigger than one candidate. It raises important questions about #governance, #accountability and the role members should play in the future of #mutuals. Thank you to everyone who has supported the campaign so far. More info here: James4Nationwide.co.uk/elect… #Nationwide #Mutuals #CorporateGovernance #BuildingSocieties #MemberVoice #FinancialServices

I am grateful to @NavPMishra MP for submitting a series of questions in Parliament addressed to the Chancellor, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, relating to #governance issues in #member-owned organisations: * #ExecutivePay (Nationwide’s offers a non-binding / advisory vote on remuneration policy, supported by the #QuickVote) * #VirtualOnlyAGM (Nationwide is the only building society to deny members physical access to the AGM) * #MemberNominated Board member (Nationwide hasn’t had a MND on it’s Board since 2002) I include reference to Nationwide Building Society here as an example - with an estimated 20M members (given the legal transfer of Virgin Money customers), it operates perhaps the largest single annual #election in the UK. However the issues are not just #Nationwide issues. They are not just #BuildingSociety issues. There are a number of member-owned organisations the rely on #democratic governance that make up the fabric of the UK, ranging from: ✔︎ retail (e.g. @coopuk 7.2M) ✔︎ heritage and wildlife organisations (e.g. @Natures_Voice 1.1M, @nationaltrust 5.4M) ✔︎ professional bodies and trade unions (e.g. @ACCA_UK 300k, @UNITE 1.1M) ✔︎ sports and leisure organisations (e.g. @EnglandGolf 730k, @CAMRA_Official 150k) ✔︎ charities and non-profits (e.g. @PoppyLegion 180k, @RNLI 150k) ✔︎ political parties (e.g. @UKLabour 310k, @reformparty_uk 220k) If you care about how these organisations are run, you should care about how they are governed. If you're a member of a member-owned organisation (because you pay your dues), use your #vote at the next #AGM, scrutinise performance, and think about how you'd like to be represented. Before long you might be asking similar questions.

I am grateful to @NavPMishra MP for writing to both the Rt Hon @RachelReevesMP (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Kevin Parry OBE (the @AskNationwide Building Society chairman), regarding emerging "#governance issues with the #buildingsociety sector", with @gareththomasMP copied, as chair of the APPG for mutuals: appgmutuals.coop/) These are important issues, being raised at an important time. The inconsistencies with the comparisons drawn need to be explained, if not addressed directly, in my view.

.@AskNationwide has confirmed that I have received the required valid nominations and will appear on the ballot for #election to the #Board of Directors at the 2026 AGM. This creates the opportunity for Nationwide Members to choose to elect a Member Nominated Director for the first time in over 20 years, at an important point in the Society’s history as it continues the integration of Virgin Money. The Board will now decide whether to recommend my candidacy to Members in the Notice of #AGM, and how the voting process will operate in what could become a competitive election. This includes the use of the #QuickVote mechanism, which enables Members to vote as per the Board’s recommendations by ticking a single box. While this is largely procedural in uncontested elections, its role is more significant where Members are being asked to make an active choice between candidates. Clarity on these points ahead of the ballot distribution will ensure Members can participate with confidence. With a choice for Members secured, my focus remains on ensuring Members have a clear and fair opportunity to make an informed decision about who represents them on the Board. Many mutual organisations have evolved to include at least one #MemberNominatedDirector as part of their #governance, reflecting the importance of Member #representation. Nationwide has over 16 million Members, and I hope those eligible to vote will take the opportunity to engage in the upcoming election. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supporters for their interest and action in the society’s affairs. For more info, please visit: james4nationwide.co.uk/a-new… or read the press coverage pasted in this thread below. @JSS4NW #James4Nationwide

Starting my final week of seeking nominations this year with this OpEd in The Times. If you’re an eligible #Nationwide member, you have until the weekend to send me your #nomination and put choice on the 2026 ballot for the first time in 20 years. 🔗 James4nationwide.co.uk/nomin… #BuildingSocieties #Governance #Mutual #Membership #Turnout