# Meet the First Python Packaging Council

The inaugural [Python Packaging Council](https://blog.python.org/2026/08/2026-packaging-council-nominees/) election closed today. Of 812 eligible PSF voting members, 541 cast ballots. Approval voting picked five winners from 17 nominees. The [full tally](https://opavote.com/results/4727898127990784) is public.

| Member | Affiliation | Approvals | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Brett Cannon](https://snarky.ca/) | Microsoft | 379 | Two years |
| [Pradyun Gedam](https://pradyunsg.me/) | Bloomberg | 332 | Two years |
| [Donald Stufft](https://caremad.io/) | NVIDIA | 301 | One year |
| [Henry Schreiner](https://iscinumpy.dev/) | Princeton University | 254 | One year |
| [Ralf Gommers](https://rgommers.github.io/) | Quansight | 253 | One year |

[PEP 772](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/explanation/what-is-pep-772.md) staggers the first council by vote count: the top two serve two years, the next three serve one, so next fall's election refills three seats. The last seat was close. Gommers beat pip maintainer Paul Moore by three approvals, and William Woodruff finished two behind Moore.

## Who won

- **[Brett Cannon](https://snarky.ca/)** is a CPython core developer, co-author of [PEP 621](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/explanation/what-is-pep-621-compatibility.md) (project metadata in `pyproject.toml`), and author of [PEP 751](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/explanation/what-is-pep-751.md) (the `pylock.toml` lockfile format).
- **[Pradyun Gedam](https://pradyunsg.me/)** maintains [pip](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/pip.md) and co-authored PEP 772, the document that created the council.
- **[Donald Stufft](https://caremad.io/)** administers [PyPI](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/explanation/what-is-pypi.md) and wrote [twine](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/twine.md).
- **[Henry Schreiner](https://iscinumpy.dev/)** maintains [pybind11](https://github.com/pybind/pybind11), [cibuildwheel](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/cibuildwheel.md), and [scikit-build-core](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/scikit-build-core.md).
- **[Ralf Gommers](https://rgommers.github.io/)** maintains [NumPy](https://numpy.org/) and [SciPy](https://scipy.org/) and co-authored the [wheel variants](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/explanation/what-are-wheel-variants.md) PEPs.

Three winners work on standards, pip, and PyPI. Two come from scientific Python and compiled extensions. At the [2025 packaging summit](https://hackmd.io/@pradyunsg/pycon2025-packaging-summit), Barry Warsaw and Carol Willing argued the council needed voices beyond [PyPA](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/explanation/what-is-pypa.md) tool authors: conda, Linux distributions, and packaging consumers. The conda and Pixi candidates (Dan Yeaw, Lucas Colley, Axel Obermeier) did not win. No two winners share an employer, so PEP 772's cap of two members per organization went untested.

I was on the ballot too and received 99 approvals. The five who won have maintained pip, PyPI, NumPy, and the build toolchain for years, the right résumé for a standards body.

## What the council decides

Until now, packaging standards passed through standing delegations from the Python Steering Council to individuals, and PyPA coordinated tools without elections. PEP 772, accepted in April, replaces that with a five-member elected body. Its authority covers the interoperability standards that [uv](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/uv.md), pip, and [Poetry](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/poetry.md) implement, the [Packaging User Guide](https://packaging.python.org/), and binding decisions about packaging tools. It prefers consensus but can vote, with a quorum of three, and electors can dissolve it with a two-thirds no-confidence vote.

The queue is long. Wheel variants ([PEP 817](https://peps.python.org/pep-0817/)) and external dependency declarations ([PEP 725](https://peps.python.org/pep-0725/)) are still drafts, and the [Wheel 2.0](https://pydevtools.com/handbook/reference/wheel.md) sub-PEPs keep coming. PEP 772 also leaves the council's relationship with PyPA for the first cohort to define. [uv Solved the Packaging UX, Not Packaging](https://pydevtools.com/blog/uv-solved-packaging-ux-hard-problems-remain.md) covers why these problems sit above any single tool.

## Learn More

- [OpaVote results](https://opavote.com/results/4727898127990784)
- [Nominee statements](https://www.python.org/nominations/elections/2026-python-packaging-council/nominees/)
- [PEP 772: Packaging Council governance process](https://peps.python.org/pep-0772/)
- [I'm Running for the Python Packaging Council](https://pydevtools.com/blog/running-for-python-packaging-council.md)