Nationwide should give its boardroom challenger a fair run

James Sherwin-Smith’s candidacy is a test of the building society’s commitment to mutual values James Sherwin-Smith, who is aiming to become the first customer to be voted onto the board of Nationwide in nearly 25 years, deserves top marks for perseverance. A year ago his attempt to get his name on the ballot paper was stymied, or so it seemed, by data protection rules and so forth. This time, he has the necessary 250 nominations to be a candidate at the July annual meeting. It is a development to welcome. As argued here a year ago, there is something of a democracy deficit at Nationwide. While the UK’s most important mutually-owned society understandably milks the fact it does not have to answer to beastly shareholders, ownership by the members does not always translate into giving those members a real voice in how the place is run. When Nationwide bought Virgin Money for £2.9bn in 2024 there was no poll of members, even though a publicly-listed bank would have to win formal approval from its shareholders to increase the size of its balance sheet by a third. Nationwide argued its hands were tied by the 1986 Building Societies Act, which was legally accurate, but it was not a good