A victory for Nationwide’s board – but members still deserve stronger voting rights | Nils Pratley

Building society rules need an overhaul if ballots on executive pay are non-binding and huge takeovers don’t require approval In the end, the rebellion at Nationwide, the country’s biggest building society, was modest. James Sherwin-Smith, who was trying to become the first member-nominated director in almost 25 years, secured only 12% of votes cast – enough to count as unusual but a long way short of causing embarrassment for the board. Meanwhile, the society got its usual 95%-plus majorities on every other resolution, including the advisory one on directors’ pay. There are two ways the direc