The Royal Historical Society seeks nominations for two Councillor positions to replace serving Council members in November 2026.
Closing date for nominations: Friday 7 August 2026. Nominations to be submitted via the Society’s applications portal.
The Council of the Royal Historical Society is central to the governance, strategic development and activities of the Society. Its members are Councillors (trustees) of the Society and led by the President, Professor Lucy Noakes.
Councillors play a full and active role in reviewing and developing the work of the Society. They work closely with the Society’s professional Office — based at University College London — which runs the organisation day-to-day. Trustees attend Council meetings, serve on committees, and engage in activities such as Society visits to UK history departments, allocation of research funding, event planning, advocacy and campaigning, and judging prizes.
Selected trustees serve in ‘Officer’ roles, such as the Society’s Vice President, Treasurer, and as chairs of committees which oversee areas including research and education policy, advocacy and publications.
Councillors serve for four years and annual elections are held to replace those stepping down at the end of their term. Election to Council is open to current Fellows of the Society.
The Council and Office offer a friendly, supportive and collaborative environment in which to contribute to the Society’s work supporting history and historians.
The Council includes historians from a range of professional backgrounds and HE institutions, career stages and research interests. The Society seeks to maintain this breadth of experience to ensure that the Council is as fully representative of the historical profession, and the study of history, as possible.
You can read more about the Society’s current priorities, and the work of Councillors, in this new Q&A blog post: ‘Elections to the Society’s Council, 2026: the role and activities of the Society’s Councillors’
In addition, we have two short video introductions: from the Society’s President, Professor Lucy Noakes, on the work of the Council and the roles of Councillors; and from Professor Olwen Purdue, a current Council member who concludes her term in November 2026 .
For more, via YouTube, please click on the images below.
Nominations are now invited from current Fellows of the Royal Historical Society to stand for election to the Society’s governing Council.
The Society seeks to elect two new Council members (trustees) in 2026, to replace serving Council members. Newly elected Councillors will take up their roles from December 2026.
Closing date for nominations: Friday 7 August 2026.
This is an important time for the Society as it pursues its Strategy for 2026-28 (launched in November 2025), under the leadership of its President, Lucy Noakes.
Fellows of the Royal Historical Society are invited to nominate themselves for election to the Council for a term of four years commencing in December 2026.
Please see the Society’s website for the affiliations and subject expertise of current Members of Council. The Councillors ending their terms in November 2026 are Dr Helen Paul and Professor Olwen Purdue.
Nominations from those wishing to stand must be supported by one Proposer and one Seconder who will also be current Fellows of the Society. Please note: 2026 sees a change to previous elections when four Seconders were required per nomination.
The call for nominations runs to Friday 7 August with voting due to open in the week commencing 17 August. Voting by Fellows will close in the week ending Friday 25 September, with results announced soon after.
For more on the role of an RHS Councillor, and how to submit a nomination, please see here.
Submission of nominations is via the Society’s online applications platform, available here.
Eligible Fellows of the Society, with questions concerning nomination, may contact the President, Professor Lucy Noakes: [email protected].