Nationwide customer seeking election to board hits out at lender for ‘unfair’ treatment

A Nationwide customer seeking election to the building society’s board has criticised the lender for “unfair” treatment and undermining democratic governance after it said it would tell members to vote against him. James Sherwin-Smith said Nationwide had tilted the field against him after it confirmed it would give members a default “quick vote” option that included a vote against his candidacy at the annual meeting in July. Nationwide, Britain’s largest building society, is mutually owned by its member-customers. The last member to sit on Nationwide’s board retired in 2002, but Sherwin-Smith has mounted a campaign to change that , arguing it would help improve accountability at the lender amid concerns members did not have enough say . James Sherwin-Smith. Photograph: James4Nationwide However, Nationwide’s chair, Kevin Parry, said in a statement on Thursday that “his election would not be in the best interests of the society” as Sherwin-Smith did not have the necessary experience. Nationwide has 17 million members and more than £377bn in assets. Sherwin-Smith said: “They have skewed this massively against me and they’ve also attacked me on my suitability for the board.” The quick vote option is presented to all Nationwide members as an easy way to go along with the board’s recommendations. Last year, 87% of about 670,000 votes cast used the quick-vote system, meaning Sherwin-Smith will face an uphill battle to inform members of the choice on offer. …