Nationwide is to hold its first vote in over two decades to elect a member-nominated candidate to the building society’s board.

In a surprise move Britain’s biggest financial mutual, which is owned by its 16million members, has agreed to allow campaigner James Sherwin-Smith’s name to go on the ballot paper at its annual meeting in July.

Sherwin-Smith had previously tried to stand for election to the board but was refused on technical grounds.

He has been a vocal critic of Nationwide’s £2.9billion deal to buy fellow lender Virgin Money, which created Britain’s second largest savings and loans group, and tried to force the mutual to give members a vote on its biggest ever deal.

More than 12million Nationwide members shared £600million in April 2025, amounting to £50 each, to thank them for the October 2024 purchase of Virgin Money.

In 2025, around one in four qualifying Nationwide members – more than 4 million people – received a £100 payment for the third year running as part of its Fairer Share profit-share scheme. 

Nationwide recently completed the transfer of Virgin Money’s 6.3million customers, around half of whom have become society members. That means they are eligible for Fairer Share bonus payments from next year.

An announcement on this year’s Fairer Share payment will be made when the society posts its full-year results on 21 May.

Last November, Nationwide promised to keep all 696 Nationwide and Virgin Money branches open until at least 2030. 

Despite this, Sherwin-Smith has criticised Nationwide, led by Debbie Crosbie, for increasingly being run like a stock market listed High Street bank - and for being the only building society to hold online-only annual meetings. He argues these stifle debate and mean directors face less scrutiny compared to members holding the board to account in-person.

Confirming his nomination, Sherwin-Smith said Nationwide was ‘at an important point in the society’s history as it continues the integration of Virgin Money’.

‘With a choice for members secured, my focus remains on ensuring they have a clear and fair opportunity to make an informed decision about who represents them on the board,’ he added.

‘Many mutual organisations have evolved to include member-nominated directors as part of their governance, reflecting the importance of member representation,’ Sherwin-Smith said.

Ballot papers will go out to members after the results.

It remains unclear if Nationwide will back Sherwin-Smith to join the board or if he will replace an existing director if he wins enough votes.

A Nationwide spokesperson said: ‘We received a submission from James Sherwin-Smith, which was checked against the society’s published rules.

‘Mr Sherwin-Smith received 256 valid nominations, exceeding the threshold set out in the rules.

‘He will therefore be included on the ballot at the society’s AGM. The outcome will be determined by members’ votes in accordance with the rules.’