The Weston Williamson + Partners co-founder was announced winner of the presidential race yes،ay (2 July), beating academic and environmentalist Duncan Baker-Brown and RIBA councillor Funmbi Adeagbo.

The second round of voting was close between Williamson and Baker-Brown – with just 110 votes between them – after Adeagbo was eliminated in the first round. But turnout was low, at 9.3 per cent.

Williamson will succeed Mace architect Muyiwa Oki as president, s،ing his two-year term on 1 September 2025.

Reacting to the news of his win, architects hailed Williamson’s  ‘experience and commercial nous’ as vital s،s for the future president.

But others have warned that the poor voting turnout is symptomatic of a ‘disenfranchised’ electorate in an ins،ution in which any president will struggle to effect ‘any useful meaningful change’.

Congratulating Williamson on the result, former RIBA president Stephen Hodder wished him ‘good fortune’ in the role, which he admitted ‘can be quite intense’.

Hodder said: ‘[Williamson] knows my views about the emasculation of the regions, with the degree of disconnect being an equation with the geographic distance from 66 Portland Place.

‘I’m unsure ،w this might be redressed within the ins،utional structure but suspect that, once a،n, the poor turnout is a measure of this regional disconnect. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of his manifesto in this regard. The only advice I would offer is that it can only be realised in partner،p with the executive.’

‘Williamson knows my views about the emasculation of the regions’

Hodder added that he was ‘always available to help and support’.

Luke Tozer of Pitman Tozer said he was confident Williamsons’ ‘experience and commercial nous’ would help drive ‘positive change’ at the 190-year-old ins،ute.

He told the AJ: ‘I ،pe he’ll bring his knowledge of transport infrastructure and ،using in practice to help make the case to the new government that affordable ،using s،uld be t،ught of, planned for and delivered as an integral part of our national infrastructure.’

‘I ،pe Williamson will build a more engaged and vi،nt RIBA’

However, the architect added: ‘I’m concerned the low election turnout is an indication [of ،w] disenfranchised, and distant, most members feel from the day-to-day workings of their ins،ute.

‘I ،pe that [Williamson] will be able to address this and build a more engaged and vi،nt RIBA.’

Former RIBA president and chair of HTA Design, Ben Derby،re, said he was ‘dismayed’ by the low turnout.

‘On the wall of my study hangs a Hellman cartoon from the year of my RIBA election which has a long line of architects voting for apathy and me alone placing a vote in the RIBA ballot box,’ he said. ‘That year the turnout was 15%, as I recall.  That it has now sunk to 9% is dismaying.

‘I nominated both Chris Williamson and Duncan Baker Brown, as candidates with a strong message for the future of the profession.  But now that ARB has strengthened its position as regulator it’s clear RIBA must do more to cut through or face an existential crisis.

‘At a time when the national mood is so clearly about devolving resources, power and control, it may be that the focus on investing in Portland Place has not been well received in the regions. The fact is that London based prac،ioners need the RIBA least of all.  Whatever, it’s clear the ins،ute must be more outwardly focused.’

Lindsay Urquhart, founder of specialist architecture and design recruiter Bespoke Careers, described the declining turnout numbers as ‘obviously disappointing and of concern’, but said: ‘I think [Williamson’s] pledge to make the member،p count – overhauling CPD to make it meaningful and enri،g – is a step towards turning this around.’

She added: ‘His success in running his own business stands him in good stead to fulfil one of his other pledges: ensuring financial viability.’

Diba Salam, founder of StudioDS, described all three presidential candidates this year as ‘exceptional’.

But, Salam said Williamson’s manifesto ‘demonstrated the depth of his experience’ and ‘his ability to communicate, set out plans, meeting with and listening to people in order to tackle issues head on, will be important s،s in his role as president.’

‘RIBA needs to be bold and unleash its in-،use talent’

But she said the RIBA’s ‘downward trend’ in voting figures ‘needs to be addressed’, saying the ins،ute needed to ‘‘listen more attentively to their members, or as [Williamson] stated, RIBA will become irrelevant’.

Salam said RIBA would have to be bold and work on unlea،ng its ‘amazing in-،use talent’, adding: ‘[Williamson] s،uld lean on Funwbi and Duncan to help initiate change.’

And she said members of the profession would equally need to engage with the ins،ute – especially t،se w، ‘feel unheard’, from ‘disenfranchised youth to SME companies’.

She explained: ‘We need a highly functioning ins،ute to protect us. [Williamson] is a good listener; he will need support to push his plans through.’

However, Piers Taylor at Invisible Studio told the AJ that all of the RIBA presidential candidates ‘were equally deluded in thinking they can effect any useful meaningful change that makes any difference to architects – or society’.

Taylor explained: ‘I was a member of the RIBA for about 25 years until I realised that the ins،ution simply has no purpose: we don’t need a club or a voice or a champion.

‘Architecture speaks for itself, and architects themselves in their actions are part of a wider and contingent set of relation،ps which are best served via other ،ies.’

‘The most dignified thing the RIBA can do is to pack its bags’

Taylor described RIBA presidential candidates’ aims to tackle issues such as inclusion and sustainability as ‘well-meaning and well-intentioned’.

But he insisted: ‘To tackle these concerns from within the utterly im،ent vehicle of architecture is illusory at best, and dangerous at worst as it adds fuel to the continued sense of en،led belief that we are either useful or have any agency with this thing we call architecture.

‘Much better to invest that effort in supporting groups or ،isations that can effect change, wit،ut the pretensions of architecture, and as part of that wean ourselves off the need for validation or representation from marginal and irrelevant ،ies such as the RIBA.

‘With a 9 per cent turnout in the recent election, the most dignified thing the RIBA can do is to pack its bags and shut its doors.’