In Autumn 2026, elections will take place for new General Synod members. Those elected will serve for five years. Members are made up of bishops, clergy and lay people.

Nominations for the General Synod elections closed on Monday, 7th September and a poll will now take place in all constituencies where the number of candidates exceeds the number of available places.

Hustings

A hustings event will take place to give electors the opportunity to hear from candidates and explore the issues and priorities shaping the future work of General Synod. The details as follows:

House of Clergy:  Thursday, 1^st October 2026 starting at 3:30pm and concluding no later than 5pm. This will be an in-person meeting held at St John’s House, 155-163 The Rock, Bury, BL9 0ND. 

The session will be chaired by Canon John Walsh OBE, Chair of the Manchester Diocesan Board of Finance.

House of Laity: Thursday, 1^st October 2026 commencing from 7pm and concluding no later than 8:30pm. This will be an in-person meeting held at St John’s House.

The session will be chaired by The Rt Revd Mark Davies, Bishop of Middleton. 

Nominated Candidates

Details of nominated candidates with respective election addresses will be published on our website, week commencing Monday, 14^th September 2026.

Questions for Candidates

Written questions to candidates from the respective electoral Houses are invited in advance of the Hustings. Candidates will also be invited to make a written response to any questions submitted, which will subsequently be published alongside the question asked, on our website.

It is advised that candidates are given a seven day period to respond to any question submitted. Therefore a period for the submission of questions to candidates is as follows:

Monday, 14^th September until Monday, 21^st September 2026 at 5pm.

Candidates will then have from Monday, 21^st September until 5pm on Tuesday, 29^th September to respond to questions submitted.

Questions may be submitted via: elections@manchester.anglican.org or addressed to:

The Revd Fr. Alan Murray-Simpson,

Diocesan Electoral Registration Officer

General Synod Elections 2026

St John’s House,

155-163 The Rock,

Bury

BL9 0ND 

Representation Matters

We are looking for candidates who represent the whole range of people and churches in the Church of England. We particularly welcome candidates whose background may currently be underrepresented

The voices, gifts and experiences of people of Global Majority Heritage enrich the life of the Church. Standing for General Synod is an opportunity to serve, shape the future of the Church and bring a wider range of perspectives into national decision-making.

If you feel called to contribute to the governance and mission of the Church of England, we encourage you to find out more about the election process and consider whether this could be a next step in your ministry or leadership journey.

Further information is available here Elections to Synod | The Church of England

Standing for Synod

The election process (including nominations and voting) will be run by Civica Election Services using an online portal, however for those who wish to use a paper-based system this will still be possible; voting will take place using the single transferable vote (STV) system.

Letters

We need to ensure that we hold accurate details for both those standing for election and those eligible to vote.

Please find two letters below, each containing instructions on how to check and update your details on CMS. One is for those who already have an email address registered on CMS, and the other is for those who do not.

Please select the letter that applies to you and follow the instructions provided.

Letter to electors with email addresses

Letter to electors without email addresses

Please send any queries to elections@manchester.anglican.org

2026 Election Timetable