Each year the Royal Historical Society holds elections to appoint new members to its Council. The Council is the Society’s governing body, with responsibility for the objectives and work of the RHS.
The election round for 2026 is now open, with an invitation to current Fellows to submit nominations to stand in this year’s ballot. All Councillors are Fellows of the Society, and those seeking election must also be current Fellows.
If you are interested in standing for election in 2026, we’ve prepared this brief commentary about the Council, and the activities of current and newly elected Councillors.
We hope this answers the questions you may have before submitting your nomination, prior to the closing date of Friday 7 August.
1. What is the Society’s Council, and why are we holding elections for new people to join as Councillors?
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 who are led by the President, Professor Lucy Noakes.
The Council comprises a body of Fellows of the Society, each of whom serves a four-year term — meeting regularly as a Council, and also working in smaller groups on the Society’s committees. Selected trustees serve in ‘Officer’ roles, including the Society’s Vice President and Treasurer, or as committee chairs who oversee areas such as research and education policy, advocacy and publications. Other Councillors, including those new to the Society, are Councillors ‘without portfolio’ who may in time take on an Officer position.
Members of Council play a full and active role in reviewing, scrutinising and developing the work of the Society. They work closely with the Society’s professional Office — based at University College London — which is responsible for the daily running and management of the Society.
The Council and Office offer a friendly, supportive, professional and collaborative environment in which to contribute to the Society’s work, supporting history and historians.
Councillors serve for four years and annual elections are held to replace those stepping down at the end of their term. This year we seek the election of two new Councillors, as the serving members — Dr Helen Paul and Professor Olwen Purdue — complete their terms. Election to the Council is open to current Fellows of the Society.
The Council and Office offer a friendly, supportive, professional and collaborative environment in which to contribute to the Society’s work, supporting history and historians.
In 2026, the Society seeks to maintain this breadth of Council experience: to ensure that its trustees are as fully representative of the historical profession, and the study of history, as possible.
The present Council comprises historians from across the UK; at different career stages (‘early career’ to retired), and with experience of working in a range of higher education institutions and also in sectors beyond education. Councillors’ research expertise covers a broad chronological range, from medieval to modern, and the study of British, European and global history. In 2026, 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.
If you are interested in standing for Council, please do consider an application. You may wish to start by reading the Society’s Strategy for 2026-28 which was launched in November 2025 and provides insight into the priorities informing its work to 2028.
Fellows with questions about standing for election, or becoming a Councillor, may contact the President, Professor Lucy Noakes: president@royalhistsoc.org, for an informal discussion.
2. What kinds of activities do Councillors undertake?
Councillors work to ensure that the aims of the Society are best met. The Society’s activities include core areas of work that are central to its purpose and provision — for its Fellows and members, and the wider historical community.
Newly elected members of Council can expect to contribute here through membership of one or more of the Society’s sub-committees which take responsibility for key areas of Society business. These include ‘external-facing’ activities such as development of the Society’s research and education policies; oversight of publications and publishing strategy; and ideas for and reviews of of the Society’s advocacy and public engagement work.
Other committees are responsible for the Society’s Fellowship and membership, in terms of recruitment and provision of member benefits; and for the assessment and award of RHS funding to support historians in research and historical projects. A further set of committees oversee and monitor the Society’s internal structures and practice: its finances, governance, and the performance and management of the Society’s professional Office, in line with the requirements set out by the Charity Commission.
Councillors also participate in the Society’s regular programme of visits to history departments, in our lecture and events programme, and make up the panels which review and decide on the Society’s annual prizes.
In addition to committees, Councillors attend five Council meetings each year to review and discuss the Society’s work in the round.
Councillors also participate in the Society’s regular programme of visits to history departments across the UK; in our lecture and events programme (in London and across the UK); and make up the panels which review and decide on the Society’s annual First Book and Early Career Article Prizes. In each of these areas, Councillors are fully supported by the Society’s Office staff.
You’ll find more about these, and other recent activities, in the News section of the Society’s website.
3. What area some of the Council’s current priorities?
In addition to this core business, Councillors play a central role in identifying and undertaking activities of current importance and priority. In late 2025, the Society launched its latest Strategy which will guide this work to the end of 2028.
The Strategy is based on five principles which will see the Society:
- champion and promote historical research and expertise to advance scholarship and the public understanding of history.
- advocate and campaign for the value of history and the work of historians.
- strengthen the organisation’s profile and reach.
- support the discipline and its practice; to provide events, training, networks and resources for our members to further their research.
- ensure a sustainable future for the Society, with reference to its membership, finances and governance.
Our advocacy work seeks both to prevent the loss of historical expertise and opportunities in higher education and to demonstrate the many contributions made by professional historians which deserve attention and support.
Of particular importance is the Society’s advocacy work: to support and defend historians in UK higher education from damaging cuts or closures; ensure the provision of historical expertise and teaching; and promote the civic and cultural value of history and historical understanding. This work seeks both to prevent the loss of historical expertise and opportunities in higher education and to demonstrate the contributions made by professional historians, within and beyond education, which deserve attention and support.
In summer 2027, the Society will co-host a two-week ‘Festival of History’ with the Institute of Historical Research and partners, to promote and celebrate these contributions. We hope that Councillors, new and existing, will help shape and participate in this initiative.
In line with the Strategy, Councillors are also exploring ways to broaden the Society’s membership to include historians working in sectors other than higher education; to assess the future of research assessment in HE, in anticipation of REF2029; to develop new grant programmes to benefit those in greatest need of research funding; and to provide support and advice for historians who are unable to obtain or who are forced to leave careers in higher education and related historical professions.
This is far from an exhaustive list. Councillors bring their own ideas for initiatives, as well as relaying proposals from the membership to Council. New areas of work are then reviewed and developed.
4. How much time’s involved in being a Councillor?
Meetings of the full Council are held five times a year, in February, May, July, September and November. Council sessions are opportunities to discuss the Society’s role and work at the highest level, with Council being the Society’s principal forum and decision-making body.
Meetings are held both in-person, at the Society’s Council Room at UCL, and online and in hybrid formats for those unable to travel to individual meetings. We pay for travel and accommodation for UK-based Councillors to attend these meetings. Council sessions also provide opportunities for trustees to meet together informally.
From 2026, one of these five annual meetings takes place outside London: this year Councillors were guests of the University of Warwick for a day visit and we are planning a similar session at another location for 2027.
In each case committee members, and especially new members, are supported and guided by the Committee’s chair and members of the RHS office who provide secretarial support with agenda, papers and minutes.
As members of one or two committees, Councillors also meet in smaller groups through the year. Committees typically meet between two and four time a year, online. As for Council meetings, committees are scheduled for Fridays through the year to minimise disruption to existing commitments. Those on the Membership and Research Support Committees may meet less often as a group but will undertake reviews of Fellowship and grant applicants at points through the year.
In each case committee members, and especially new members, are supported and guided by the Committee’s chair and members of the RHS Office who provide secretarial support with agenda, papers and minutes. More established Councillors often take on projects within a committee or across the Society, according to their interests.
5. Joining the Society’s Council: the 2026 elections
Each year, several members of the Council step down on completing their four-year term. In their place the Fellowship annually elects new members of Council using a preferential voting system. We now seek nominations from Fellows of the Society who wish to put themselves forward for election in 2026 to fill two Council positions. Details of this year’s call for nominations have recently been emailed to all Fellows. Applications to enter the ballot for 2026 are open until Friday 7 August.
If you wish to stand for election, please submit a short statement (250 words max) and secure the support of one Proposer and one Seconder who are likewise current Fellows of the Society. Your Proposer will also contribute a statement (250 words max) in support of your candidacy. Applications should be completed online via the Society’s application portal.
Voting will take place from the week of Monday 17 August, with results announced in late September / early October. New Councillors will attend the November meeting of Council (27 November 2026) and take up their posts from December. As trustees of the Society, newly elected members will receive a full induction into the Society, its work and the responsibilities of a trustee for a charitable organisation. Further training for Councillors (for example, those on the Finance Committee) may then provided, as required, through their term in office.
6. Further questions? Contacting the Society
If you are considering standing for election in 2025, and would like to discuss the role further, please contact Professor Lucy Noakes, President of the Royal Historical Society: president@royalhistsoc.org. Lucy is happy to provide further insight into the Society, its Council and the activities of Councillors.
If you’ve been asked to support the nomination of a Fellow to Council, and would like to discuss how best to support your candidate, please email: president@royalhistsoc.org.
