General Synod Elections 2026 Candidates

Here is a list of candidates for the General Synod elections 2026. Please click on a candidate's name to read their election statement. Copies of the candidates' election addresses of those candidates who have submitted one are also available with the list of candidates.

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

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

Please note that the candidate The Revd Sharon Bavington has withdrawn from the Proctors in Convocation (Clergy) election.
In order to comply with Rule 3 (3) of the https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/stv-rules-2020-as-amended-july-2025-completed.pdf (which provides for the transfer of the first preference votes of a withdrawn candidate) it is necessary that the withdrawn candidate remains on the ballot.

Rule 3 (3) of the Single Transferable Vote Rules 2020 (as amended by the Single Transferrable Vote (Amendment) Rules 2025) provide for what happens if a candidate withdraws:
“3 (3) Where a presiding officer is notified of the death of a candidate, or a candidate signifies in writing to the presiding officer (whether sent by electronic or other means) that the candidate wishes to withdraw from the election, or a candidate is found by the presiding officer to be ineligible for election, the presiding officer must, immediately after sorting the voting records, cause the voting records with a first preference for that candidate to be transferred to the second preference as if that were the original vote, unless it is a non-transferable voting record in which case it must be set aside. (4) This Rule is to be read with— (a) (b) (c) Voting records in the case of an election to the Upper House of a Convocation, Rule 10 of the House of Bishops Election Rules 2025, in the case of an election to the Lower House of a Convocation, Rules 29 and 46 of the House of Clergy Election Rules 2025, in the case of an election to the House of Laity of the General Synod, Rules 9 and 24 of the House of Laity Election Rules 2025.”

Candidate	Nominators
The Ven Paul Ayers	The Ven Andrew John Jolley The Revd Camilla Mary Rose Cork
The Revd Richard Barber	The Revd Mike Resch The Revd Bev Monck
The Revd Sharon Bavington	The Revd Tim Thomas The Revd Leah Leighton
The Revd Amy Berry	The Revd Canon Richard Burge The Revd Sarah Harrison
The Ven William Edward Braviner	The Ven Cat Thatcher The Revd Robb Sutherland
The Revd Canon Paul Cartwright	The Ven Cat Thatcher The Revd Timothy Charles Rank Thomas
The Revd Mike Coe	The Revd Mike Green The Revd Diana Rees-Jones
The Revd Canon Wendy Dalrymple	The Revd Canon Joyce Jones The Revd Canon Paul Cartwright
The Revd Canon Rachel Firth	The Revd Gary Richard Waddington The Revd Julie Anderson
The Revd Caroline Greenwood	The Revd Canon Hilary Barber The Revd Canon Hugh Baker
The Revd Gareth Howles	The Revd Mike Coe The Revd Rolf Mason
The Revd Joanne Medhurst	The Revd Mark Umpleby The Revd Heston Groenewald
The Revd Father Nicholas Justin Mercer	The Revd Sheena McMain The Revd Doug Rice-Bowen
The Revd Debbie Nash	The Ven Cat Thatcher The Revd Jenny Ramsden
The Revd Adam Roebuck	The Revd Emily Tidball The Revd Lindsey Barber
The Revd Dr Catherine Shelley	The Ven Cat Thatcher The Revd Wayne Simmonds
The Revd Robert Sutherland	The Ven Bill Braviner The Revd Gary Waddington
The Revd Gary Waddington	The Revd Canon Rachel Firth The Revd Robb Sutherland
The Revd Mark Watson	The Revd Sharon Wilkinson The Revd Phil Harris

Candidates for members of the General Synod House of Laity

Candidate	Nominators
Mr Theodore Alexander Antonov	Michael Moss Vivianne (Viv) Brealey
Mrs Joanna Beacroft-Mitchell	John White Caroline Pemberton
Mrs Helen Eskriett	Tammy-Jane Gore Thomas Berry
Mr Roger Lazenby	Kay Brown Rupert Madeley
Mr Hugh Lorimer	Kathryn Rudd Susan Carolyn Collins
Canon Zahida Mallard	Canon Mathew Ambler Vivianne (Viv) Brealey
Sir Richard Mantle	Pam Grant Canon Zahida Mallard
Mr Keith Miller	Patricia White Janette Povey
Mrs Judith Osborne	Canon Professor Joyce Hill Dr Andrew Wilson
Mrs Hilary Paxton	Helen Camm Beverley Cooper
Associate Professor Leonard Sanderman	Deborah Cartwright Janet Ann Ramsdale
Mrs Catherine Stephenson	David Ashton Hilary Pollard
Mrs Barbara Christine Anne Swift	Patricia Linacre Clegg Connor Taylor
Mrs Tabitha Tanna	Heather Drayton Nick Drayton
Dr Diana Tremayne	Canon Jane Evans Canon Professor Joyce Hill

Questions to Candidates - Clergy and Laity elections

Candidates were invited to provide written answers to the Questions which would be asked at the Hustings events held on 30.9.26 (for Clergy election) and 01.10.26 (for Laity election). Both Hustings events used the same six questions. Candidates could choose which Questions to answer or none both at the Hustings and in their written answers. The word limit for the answer to each Question was 200 words and any words over the 200 words limit would not be published.

A copy of the Questions for Candidates can be read here: Hustings Questions for Candidates

The Replies of the Candidates who provided written answers to Questions for Candidates are available below. Please click on the link to see the replies of the candidate named.

Please note that:

Some candidates have numbered their answers by reference to the number only of the Question in the Hustings Questions for Candidates. Others have written out the Question above their answer.
Where a candidate wrote an answer to a Question which was over the 200 words limit, only the first 200 words have been published as outlined above.

Please note: Any statements, views or opinions expressed by any Candidate in their Candidate’s Answers to Questions to Candidates do not necessarily represent those of the Leeds Diocesan Board of Finance nor of the Presiding Officer in the election.