How to vote in your AGM

Resolutions and any accompanying supporting statements are the views of the proposers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Trust. Any recommendation from the Board of Trustees that members support a resolution reflects only a recommendation that the resolution be supported and doesn’t imply any agreement by the Board with, or endorsement of, any facts, statements or opinions in the supporting statement.

Election statements represent the views of the candidates – they do not necessarily represent the views of the National Trust.

Vote in advance

You’ll need to vote on our Council election in advance of the AGM, and you can choose to vote on the resolutions in advance too. Voting closes at 11.59pm on 30 October 2026.

Vote online

Have your say by voting online. If you’ve received an email from us about the AGM, follow your personalised voting link for a fast login experience. Alternatively, visit the CES voting platform below and enter your membership details, which you can find on your membership card.

Vote by post

If you wish to vote or register your interest to attend the AGM by post, you’ll need to request a postal vote below. The deadline to make this request is 5pm on 14 October.

If you’ve previously contacted us to request a postal vote, you don’t need to make this request again. We’ve saved your preferences and you’ll receive the papers from early September.

Vote at the meeting

If you plan to attend the meeting in person or virtually, you can vote on the resolutions on the day via the CES Join-In platform. Information about using this platform will be available ahead of, and during, the meeting for all registered attendees.

To vote in person, you’ll need to bring a smartphone with you to join the secure voting platform. Handheld devices are no longer in use. Further information is available in your AGM booklet. 

Only the resolutions are voted on at the meeting itself and you’ll still need to vote in the elections before the deadline either online or by post.

Attending the meeting

Members are welcome to join the meeting in person or online, but you’ll need to register to attend in advance, which will open from September.

There are a limited number of in-person spaces available, if you wish to attend in person, we recommend you register your interest as soon as possible. If interest to attend in person exceeds venue capacity, places will be allocated by ballot and some members may be asked to join online, and will be able to ask questions on the resolutions and vote on the day.

Different types of vote

There are three different types of vote you can choose from to have your say.

• Specified vote

This is where you specify how you want your vote to be cast by your proxy (the Chair of the AGM) and they act as your representative and vote as directed by you. You can do this by selecting 'for', 'against' or 'abstain' for the individual resolutions and by selecting your preferred election candidates.

• Quick vote

To cast your vote in support of the Board of Trustees' position on all resolutions, and/or recommended election candidates/candidate bodies, you can use the quick vote option. Quick vote is a type of specified vote.

• Discretionary vote

You can cast a discretionary vote for the resolutions, but not in the elections. This means you're directing the proxy (the Chair of the AGM) to vote on the resolutions as they see fit. You can do this by selecting the 'discretionary' box.

More about voting

You can find more details about voting in your AGM booklet.