BRANCH BEST PRACTICE FOR THE NOMINATION PROCESS TO BE CONDUCTED FOR FIELD OFFICIAL ELECTIONS

BRANCH BEST PRACTICE FOR THE NOMINATION PROCESS TO BE CONDUCTED FOR FIELD OFFICIAL ELECTIONS

Branches will recall the Branch ballot procedures circulated in LTB 230/25 on 24 October 2025. Whilst Branch Officers and Committees shall establish rules governing the conduct of elections, this documentation provided clarification in certain areas.

Given the number of elections being held each year the number of complaints and issues arising remains minimal, however an issue has come to light in terms of the nomination process for Field Official elections. This relates to the nationally advertised window for nominations and the completion of the Branch process within the allotted timescale.

This matter was considered by the NEC at a meeting on 24 June 2026 and to provide uniformity in this area, as well as clear guidance to Branches, the attached (below) best practice process was endorsed, to be adopted going forward.

Any enquiries should be addressed to dwilshire@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Dave Ward

General Secretary

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BRANCH BEST PRACTICE FOR THE NOMINATION PROCESS TO BE CONDUCTED FOR FIELD OFFICIAL ELECTIONS

Listed below are the steps Branches must adopt when the Branch nomination process is held for Field Official elections:

• An LTB will be circulated from CWUHQ advising of the opening and closing dates for nomination from Branches.
• Without undue delay branches are then to hold a properly constituted Branch meeting within these dates to agree the nomination(s) to be put forward to CWUHQ by the closing date for nominations advertised in the LTB.
• A time and date for the properly constituted Branch meeting is to be agreed between the Branch Secretary and Chair, or their deputies where either are on leave etc.
• A notice of the meeting should be advertised reasonably in advance to the appropriate membership through all the normal Branch communication channels.
• The meeting notice must state the business of the meeting in terms of the elections being held and state that nominations are being sought, as well as making clear the meeting will agree the number of nominations to be put forward by the Branch and who is nominated.
• The meeting notice must also stipulate the closing time and date for nominations and make it clear that after this time and date no further nominations will be accepted.
• The meeting will agree how many nominations will be put forward from the Branch. This may be all the nominations received, or a limited number.
• If the decision is taken to put forward less nominations from the Branch than the number of forms considered, a vote will be held at the meeting by a show of hands to determine the names that will be sent to CWUHQ.
• Prior to the vote being held each candidate will be allowed to speak for a maximum of three minutes in support of their nomination.
• The result of the vote will be recorded in the minutes of the meeting together with the name(s) of those who have been nominated for the position(s).
• Nomination forms for the Branch nominee(s) will not be signed by the relevant Branch Officials until after the meeting has concluded.

The provisions above apply equally to Section Committee meetings where the election relates only to Section members and in advance, the Branch Committee has taken a decision for the Section to deal with the election nominations independently. In such cases the Sectional decision must come back to the Branch Committee for ratification.

LTB 197/26 – BRANCH BEST PRACTICE FOR THE NOMINATION PROCESS TO BE CONDUCTED FOR FIELD OFFICIAL ELECTIONS

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