Anne-Marie Lacey elected 2028 CIPR President
Members of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) have elected Anne-Marie Lacey Chart.PR FCIPR as President-Elect for 2027. She will become the Institute's President in 2028.
The Institute can also confirm that its Council has elected Paul Compton Chart.PR, MCIPR and Naomi MG Smith Chart.PR, FCIPR to the CIPR’s Board of Directors. Both will serve a three-year term from 2027 to 2029.
Anne-Marie is a Senior Lecturer in Public Relations at Newcastle University. A CIPR Fellow, she has sat on the Institute's Board of Directors and contributed to its recent syllabus review. She received the 2025 Sir Stephen Tallents' Medal for her service to the CIPR and her advocacy for professionalism, Chartership and qualifications.
She won the Outstanding Young Communicator Award at the 2014 CIPR North East PRide Awards and went on to win it nationally at the CIPR Excellence Awards in 2017. She has since judged both awards at regional and national level.
Anne-Marie will serve a three-year term on the Institute’s Board of Directors, from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2029. She will act as President-Elect in 2027, President in 2028, and Past-President in 2029.
Thank you to everyone who engaged in the election, shared their experiences with me and took the time to vote. I’d also like to thank David for such a collegiate campaign. Elections aren’t always comfortable for either candidate, but we’ve supported each other throughout and never lost sight of the fact that we’re both volunteers who care deeply about the CIPR and our professional community.
I’ve been a proud CIPR member and volunteer for more than 15 years and I’ve seen first-hand what we can achieve when we come together. I’m really excited to work with Dan during his Presidential year and with members, volunteers and staff across the Institute, building on the work already underway and the conversations I’ve had with people throughout the campaign. I want the CIPR to meet members where they are, now and in the future, and to be a professional home where people feel they belong.
As Chief Volunteer, the President is there to represent our members and make sure their voices are heard. I said throughout the campaign that my approach would be ‘a little less me and a lot more we’. That’s the spirit I’ll bring to the role, and I can’t wait to get started.
Huge congratulations to Anne-Marie on being elected on 2028 President. I've had the pleasure of sitting alongside her on the Board, and her energy for raising standards in our profession is infectious. I can't wait to work with her over the coming year as she gets ready to take on the presidency in 2028.
Many congratulations to Paul and Naomi on their election to Board.
A big thank you to David Hamilton for standing too. A contested election is good for the Institute, and David made a strong case to members. I hope more people follow his lead and put themselves forward in future.
Statement of the Returning Officer
Two contested elections took place, for President-elect 2027 (two candidates for one position), and for Board Members 2027-29 (five candidates for two positions).
At the close of voting at midday on Monday 28 September 2026, the results were as follows:
President-elect
- Total number of ballots issued: 9,441
- Total number of votes cast: 824
- Turnout: 8.7%
The vote was conducted under the Single Transferable Vote system, which produces mathematically the same result as 'First Past the Post’ when two candidates are standing for one position.
I declare that the elected candidate is Anne-Marie Lacey
The full table of results and calculations is available on request.
Board Members
- Total number of ballots issued: 23
- Total number of individual voters: 14
- Turnout: 60.9%
The vote was conducted under the Single Transferable Vote system, using ERS97.
I declare that the following are duly elected:
Paul Compton
Naomi MG Smith
About the Chartered Institute of Public Relations
Founded in 1948, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) is the world's only Royal Chartered professional body for public relations practitioners with over 11,000 members.
The CIPR advances professionalism in public relations by making its members accountable to their employers and the public through a code of conduct and searchable public register, setting standards through training, qualifications, awards and the production of best practice and skills guidance, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and awarding Chartered Public Relations Practitioner status (Chart.PR).