General Synod

General Synod Elections 2026

Voting for qualified electors opened on Monday 21st September 2026. Voting will close on Monday 12th October for paper/postal ballots, and Tuesday 13th October for ballots via the electronic portal.

The full list of candidates, along with their election address and photograph, if they have chosen to submit them, can be accessed below.

In Liverpool Diocese, we have 4 House of Laity places to fill and 5 House of Clergy places to fill.  

As we have received more valid nominations than places available, elections for both Houses are contested and the electorate are invited to cast their votes.

All qualified electors with an email address should have received an email from generalsynodelections@cesvotes.com, allowing access to the voting portal; electors who are using a postal should have received their paper voting packs. If you have not received either of these and believe you should have, please email elections@liverpool.anglican.org asap.

Candidates for the House of Laity to the General Synod

Here is a list of candidates for the General Synod elections 2026. We are displaying an election address of every candidate who has provided one. Please click on the link to read their election statement and view their photographs.

Please note: Any statement, views or opinions expressed by any Candidate in their Candidate’s Election Address enclosed in this document do not necessarily represent those of Liverpool Diocesan Board of Finance nor of the Presiding Officer in the election.

Candidates for the House of Laity to the General Synod

Candidates for the House of Clergy (Proctors in Convocation) to the General Synod

General Synod is the national assembly of the Church of England, commonly referred to as the Church’s Parliament. Together with the Westminster Parliament, it is the only body in the land which is entitled to make national law for England. Synod considers and approves legislation affecting the whole of the Church of England, authorises new forms of worship, debates matters of religious and public interest, and approves the annual budget for the work of the Church at national level.

Members of General Synod are arranged into three Houses: the House of Bishops, the House of Clergy (all ordained members, excluding bishops), and the House of Laity, the lay (not ordained) members from every diocese of the Church of England. Members of the Houses of Clergy and Laity are elected by the clergy and lay members respectively of the Deanery Synods.

2026 General Synod election timetable for parishes

The next election to General Synod takes place in 2026. The full election timetable is published below.

In the Diocese of Liverpool, we will elect 4 representatives for the House of Laity and 5 representatives for the House of Clergy.

2026 election timetable

14 July 2026
Deadline for qualifying as an elector (for most members); Synod dissolved and election period begins

27 July 2026
Register of electors sent to the Presiding Officer

14 August 2026
Invitations to nominate issued

7 September 2026
Nominations close at 5pm

21 September 2026
If poll needed, invitations to vote issued

13 October 2026
Voting ends
(Postal vote deadline 12 October 2026)

14-16 October 2026
Counting takes place

19 October 2026
Results declared

Queries: elections@liverpool.anglican.org

Hustings

As advertised hustings will be held in separate Houses. They will be held by Zoom on the following dates:

1. House of Laity Candidates and electorate: Tuesday 6th October beginning at 7pm
2. House of Clergy Candidates and electorate: Thursday 8th October beginning at 7pm

If you wish to attend as electorate for the relevant house, please email elections@liverpool.anglican.org and we will forward the Zoom link to you.

The Hustings will be online only. They will not be recorded, and no note of meeting/Minute will be made. 

Please be aware that candidates can decide whether or not to attend the Hustings: it is not mandatory to attend and if a candidate chooses not to attend, their candidacy is not invalidated by that decision. If a candidate attends, they can choose how much to partake in the Hustings, including whether to address the electorate or answer questions. Again, this does not affect the validity of their candidacy.

The electorate can choose to ask brief questions to the candidates. These can be submitted in writing in advance by emailing elections@liverpool.anglican.org or in person on the evening, if time. Please note, priority will be given to any questions received in advance. If there are several questions of a similar content, the Presiding Officer may choose to group these and ask them as one question. The questions cannot be asked to specific candidates or to some candidates only: any question must be put to all candidates; however, a candidate does have the right to refuse to answer any question and again that does not invalidate their candidacy. 

Each candidate attending will be offered 2 minutes to address the electorate present. Thereafter, there will be a short time for any brief questions from the electorate with priority given to any written questions received in advance. Each candidate will be offered the opportunity to answer each question with a time limit for answers of 1½ minutes. There will be no open debate amongst candidates. Given the number of candidates, the time limits will be strictly adhered to and it may not be possible to answer all questions within the husting session. 

Voting

The lay Deanery Synod members in our diocese vote for lay candidates, and the clergy in our diocese vote for clergy candidates. The voting period is 21^st  September to 13^th  October 2026 (postal voting deadline is 12^th October 2026)

In our diocese, we can elect 5 members of clergy and 4 members of laity to General Synod. 

Voting opened for qualified electors on Monday 21st September 2026. Voting will close Monday 12th October for paper/postal ballots and Tuesday 13th October for ballots via the electronic portal. Voting details have been sent by email (or by post if no email provided) to all qualified electors. If you have not been contacted and believe you should have been, please contact elections@liverpool.anglican.org

Results

Candidates will be invited to observe the Count with details sent directly to each candidate in due course. Results will be declared by 19^th October 2026 and published no later than that date.

If elected, you would come to General Synod for the first time at its meeting in London this November.

FAQs

This is a live list of frequently asked questions – we will continue to update this as the process evolves.

1. Am I eligible to vote?

Lay members (but not co-opted lay members) of Deanery Synods vote for lay candidates standing for election to General Synod for this diocese. 

Clergy in each diocese who qualify under Canon H2 paragraph 4 can vote for clergy candidates standing for election to General Synod from their diocese.

If you believe you are eligible to vote in the elections but have not received an email from Civica CES, please contact us ASAP by email elections@liverpool.anglican.org

Lay and clergy members of the Religious Communities and Armed Forces, Deans and members of the Universities and Theological Education Institutions have separate election processes.

2. When are the election results known?

The results must be declared by Monday 19^th October.

They will be published on our website, following the requirements in the Rules, and in our Bulletin.

3. Expenses

Those wishing to stand for election may wish to know that Synod members will be reimbursed for travel, accommodation and subsistence expenses for meetings held in London, and travel for meetings held in York (as the diocese will be billed directly for your accommodation and meals). If you are not able to pay up front for these things, we will work with you to ensure this is not a barrier to you serving on General Synod.

Potential candidates may also wish to know that the 2025/26 rate of compensation set by the Archbishops’ Council for loss of earnings due to attendance at General Synod or at meetings of the Synod’s or Council’s subordinate bodies is the actual loss up to £210 per day of absence.

4. Time commitment

1. The frequency and length of meetings of the full General Synod follow a regular pattern of two (or occasionally three) meetings in a calendar year. 

2. Meetings are in February, July and (if needed) November. February and November meetings are non-residential and are held at Church House, Westminster.  July meetings are residential and are held at the University of York. 

3. Members will wish to set aside time to read before meetings begin sufficient time to read the relevant papers.

4. The weeks in which the meetings are held each year are fixed by a Synod resolution passed no later than the July meeting of the previous year.  The Business Committee of the General Synod then informs Synod members in the agenda for each meeting of the precise dates (within the pre-arranged weeks) on which the Synod will meet, in the light of the needs of the agenda.

5. A February meeting usually spans up to five weekdays and the daily sitting hours usually run from 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and from 2.00 to 7.00 p.m.

6. In York, residential meetings are usually held over a weekend from Friday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon.  The Synod does not transact business on the Sunday morning during a weekend residential meeting.  Instead, by invitation of the Dean and Chapter, members can attend a Sung Eucharist in York Minster.

7. The dates so far agreed for General Synod meetings 2026-2031 can be found here

8. It is preferred that members attend Synod meetings in person.  However, if circumstances prevent this, members can participate remotely by Zoom.

9. Members are not required to record their attendance at any full meeting and do not have to attend a minimum number of meetings.  It rests with each individual to do the best they can in the light of other commitments and particular concerns in each Synod agenda.  The Business Committee does, however, try as far as possible to help members by ensuring that particular items of business begin at published times.

10. Members may be invited by the Appointments Committee to serve on permanent or temporary bodies but are entirely free to refuse. Individual members’ preferences are carefully taken into account in fixing dates of committee meetings and every effort is made by the Appointments Committee to share out the committee work fairly among members who are qualified to deal with the tasks to be undertaken.

11. The Synod calls the sittings in Full Synod on one day a “session” and any number of sessions on consecutive days a “group of sessions”.  But this is only a matter of terminology and has no bearing on the frequency or length of sessions

5. Am I eligible to stand for election?

If you are interested in standing for election, please use the national eligibility checker as a guide. Any queries please contact elections@liverpool.anglican.org. You will need to fill out the diocese’s nomination form and have it signed by the people who are nominating you.

If you are standing as a lay member, you need two people who are members of a Deanery Synod to nominate you. If you are clergy, you need two other clergy to nominate you.