How do you become High Sheriff of Surrey?
You can be nominated by Surrey’s Nominations Panel or you can apply yourself
If you are active in Surrey, helping others within our county, someone can recommend your name to one of the 12 members of the High Sheriff Nomination Panel. They meet each year and consider all such nominations for High Sheriff about 5 years in advance. So, in 2023 they will be nominating the High Sheriff of Surrey for 2028/29. They use the criteria published on the website. You can see the Panel’s Terms of Reference there as well.
You can apply independently to become a High Sheriff. You will be asked for a Curriculum Vitae in order to assess to what extent you meet the criteria for nominations. You may also be asked to provide two independent referees to whom the panel may apply for references.
Approval of the Lord-Lieutenant
Once the Panel has approved you as a potential nominee, the High Sheriff will inform the Lord-Lieutenant of the choice of the panel and receive the Lord-Lieutenant’s approval. The Lord-Lieutenant doesn’t normally override the decision of the properly constituted panel without a good reason about which the Panel may not be aware.
How you are told
The current High Sheriff will then approach you, explain about the role of the High Sheriff, the time required, the likely costs involved, the non-political nature of the appointment and ask whether you would be prepared to accept the nomination.
Submission to The King’s Remembrancer
The current High Sheriff will then submit your name by the end of January to the Clerk of The King’s Remembrancer at the Royal Courts of Justice. From there all nominations are considered by HM The King.