This year’s five candidates – Gavin Smith, Katrina Dearden, Lee Buss-Blair, Nic Bliss and Richard Kennedy – bring a breadth of backgrounds, from the tenant voice to campaigning backgrounds and decades of experience working in the housing sector.

The vice president of CIH plays a crucial part in helping to drive the organisation forward. With hustings interviews being shared next week via CIH Unlocked, the nominees must demonstrate that they can be:

• An effective leader for the housing profession
• An inspirational figure for CIH members
• Comfortable in the public eye
• A willing champion for housing issues, driving improvement across the industry.

The winning candidate will work with president-elect Evie Copland during her year in office from our October 2026 annual general meeting (AGM), before going on to become the next CIH president at the AGM in 2027.

Every CIH member has one vote in this election. Once voting closes, the candidate with over 50 per cent of the votes will be declared the winner and named as our next vice president.

CIH members can read more about each candidate and why they believe they deserve to be elected here. Members can vote here by entering their unique voter code, which has been sent to all members by email. Voting closes at 11.59pm on Monday 13 July 2026.