30 Years of the Nolan Principles: Enduring guidance for boards in the post-”Good Chaps” era
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UK government committee that created the Nolan Principles, a set of ethical standards for public life that continue to guide leaders, organisations and governing bodies around the world.
The seven Nolan Principles – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership – were first articulated in 1995 by the Committee on Standards in Public Life, chaired by Lord Nolan. Developed in response to a series of high-profile scandals, these principles were intended to help restore public trust in the institutions and individuals tasked with serving the greater good. Three decades later, the Nolan Principles remain an essential touchstone, especially for boards navigating the evolving landscape of community engagement and partnership. As boards seek to build stronger, more collaborative relationships with the people and communities they represent, upholding these principles is paramount.
At the heart of the Nolan Principles is a commitment to putting the needs of the community before one’s own interests. For boards, selflessness and objectivity mean making decisions that prioritise the collective wellbeing, rather than personal gain or narrow agendas. Integrity and honesty are cornerstones of building trust between an organisation and the public it serves. In an era of heightened scrutiny and digital transparency, boards must consistently demonstrate their integrity through their actions and decision-making. Openness and accountability go hand-in-hand, as boards strive to be accessible, responsive, and readily answerable to the communities they serve. Finally, the Nolan Principle of leadership challenges boards to set the tone for ethical conduct and community engagement. Board members must be willing to lead by example.
The fact that the principles are broadly expressed, rather than constituting a set of detailed and binding ‘rules’, is arguably their strength, as they can be easily applied to different settings and rely on norms of behaviour rather than a compliance mindset. However, this strength can also be a weakness when unscrupulous behaviour occurs. In his book, “Good Chaps: How Corrupt Politicians Broke Our Laws and Institutions”, Simon Kuper provides a detailed account – drawn largely from British politics – of the turmoil of recent years and the misbehaviour of the political class. His argument is that governance has historically been reliant on “good chaps” who, because of their education and experiences, “did the right thing instinctively” and therefore did not require rules to act as guardrails on their ethics. Far from being isolated to national politics, Kuper makes the point that systemic corruption always ends up poisoning the well for civil society at large, and that high profile ethical failures inevitably end up permeating community institutions. The way people trust, or mistrust, national institutions relates directly to the trust they also hold in local institutions, making Kuper’s account relevant to governance in contexts such as schools, hospitals, and NGOs.
As we mark thirty years since the Nolan Principles were first introduced, their timeless wisdom therefore resonates more strongly than ever. For boards striving to work in partnership with their communities, building stronger, more collaborative relationships with the communities they serve, these principles offer an indispensable ethical framework – and insofar as we see politicians and other high profile figures failing to live up to them, it becomes even more important for those of us connected to organisational governance not just to live and breathe the principles, but also to show our stakeholders that we are doing so.