Source:&nbsp Shutterstock More than 40 per cent of seats on the RIBA council for the upcoming elections have no candidates – and there is zero interest in two entire regions, it has emerged A list of candidates for next month’s elections to RIBA council and for the role of vice-president membership, published earlier this month, shows six of 14 seats on the council have no candidates for the vote starting on 16 June. That includes two seats for the South and two seats for East, where ‘no valid nominations were received’ for either of the regional places on RIBA council. Meanwhile, two seats – Scotland North and Northern Ireland – will see candidates elected unopposed, due to there being no other interest in representing. No valid nominations were received for two associate member seats.Advertisement However, six candidates were named for the two student seats on the council. They are: Selen Akalin, Tamunokuro Krukrubo, Rachael Livingstone, AB Mukadam, Kavindu Narayana and Andrew Pizzey. Another four candidates are competing for two non-regional council member seats. They are: Daniel Jenkins, Laura Marr, Olga Tarasova and Rebecca Wise. The vice-president membership role has attracted eight candidates. They include Jaspal Bhogal, director of Jaspal Bhogal Associates; Sheleendra Fernando, managing director of 24/Three; Thomas Foggin, director and sustainable lead of R H Partnership Architects, and Douglas Hodgson, founding director of New-works. The other candidates are Patricia Leo, director of Studio NP; Gareth Maguire, chief architect of Studio MUA; Elliot McCall, architect at Inspire Architects; and Liam Russell, founder and chief executive officer of LRA Retinue. RIBA council has 42 members with around a third of the seats rotating every three years.Advertisement Successfully elected candidates will serve in their roles for three years, starting 1 September 2025 – the same day Weston Williamson + Partners co-founder Chris Williamson becomes RIBA president. Williamson was elected as president-elect last year with 45 per cent of the second-round vote with a total of 4,462 votes cast. However, turnout was just 9.3 per cent (compared with 12.4 per cent for Mace architect Muyiwa Oki when he was elected in 2022). Williamson told the AJ: ‘I was pleased with the applications for Membership Secretary but, yes, it’s disappointing that other positions are not contested. I think many architects are concentrating on their work right now.’ The Just Transition Lobby coalition of campaign groups, which successfully campaigned for Oki to become president in 2022 and has elected half a dozen RIBA members to council in the past two years, has not, as yet, announced any candidates at this election. The RIBA has been contacted for comment. 2025-05-30 Gino Spocchia comment and share