Dear Friends,
We have received a number of questions about how Representatives and Proxy voting works, so we’re providing this handy breakdown ahead of our 2026 AGM this weekend.
Church Representatives & Proxy Voting
Each Church has a Church Representative, elected annually at the Church’s AGM.
It is the role of the Church Representative to attend and vote at meetings of the relevant District Council and Union on behalf of the Church.
If the Church Representative is unable to attend a meeting, they may send someone to cast a vote in their place.
This is known as a ‘Proxy’ or ‘Proxy vote’.
To register a Proxy Vote, the Church Representative needs to complete the Church Proxy Form, putting their name in the first space, the name of their Church in the second space, the name of the Proxy in the third space, and date of birth in the fourth space.
Finally, they need to sign and date the form and return this to the SNU before the deadline.
Individual Members & Proxy Voting
Each fully paid up Individual Member is entitled to attend and vote at the Union’s Annual General Meeting (AGM).
If a member is unable to attend a meeting, they may send someone else who can cast a vote in their place.
This is known as a ‘Proxy’ or ‘Proxy Vote’.
To register a Proxy Vote, the Individual Member needs to complete the IM Proxy Form, putting their name in the first space, the name of their proxy in the second space and putting their IM number in the relevant space.
Finally, they need to sign and date the form and return this to the SNU before the deadline.
Proxy limitations
An Individual Member may serve as a proxy for multiple other Individual Members (there is no limit on this).
An Individual Member may act as a proxy for only one of the following – Church Representative, District Representative or other Accredited Representative.
A person attending on behalf of their Church, District or Branch cannot also be a proxy for another Church, District or Branch. They may be a proxy for another Individual Member.
No members of the NEC can be a Church, District, Brand or other Accredited Representative or act as a proxy for such.
No members of National Council may act as a District representative or as a proxy for such.
Deadline?
The deadline for the receipt of Proxy Forms this year is 9:00am on Thursday 24th September 2026.
This is in accordance with the Union’s bye laws, with bye laws A, Rule 9.6 stating:
“The instrument of proxy must be in the following form and must be sent to the Union not less than 48 hours before the commencement of the meeting.”
You can find copies of both IM and Church Proxy Forms to download and return on our dedicated SNU Essential Resources Page.
Yours sincerely,
SNU Operations
Queries & Accessibility options – Paper copies of this page are available on request. To receive a paper copy, or if you have any questions, or would like to discuss accessibility needs or other requirements, please contact SNU Head Office via email at snu@snu.org.uk or telephone on 01279 816363.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this post, please feel free to get in touch.