2010 RCVS Council elections underway

The RCVS Council elections are now underway, with the manifestos of this year's candidates and ballot papers posted to all RCVS members today. For each member who uses their vote, we will send 20p to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Haiti Earthquake Appeal.

There are ten candidates standing for election to the six seats available, half of whom are new faces and half either incumbent or former Council members. Those successful will take up their positions at RCVS Day on 2 July to serve four-year terms.

The candidates are:

and their contact details, biographies and manifesto statements are set out in RCVS News Extra (March 2010).

“What the RCVS does impacts directly on veterinary surgeons,” says Registrar Jane Hern. “Who gets to be on Council – and influence matters such as the disciplinary system, 24-hour cover, and the Practice Standards Scheme – that is up to the profession.”

SMS (text) voting will be offered for the first time this year, replacing telephone voting, which was not popular. Votes may also be cast online or by post (view voting instructions).

The online discussion forum set up on www.vetsurgeon.org last year to allow vets to question candidates directly about their views was popular – with the forum's pages viewed 23,000 times before the voting deadline – so will be repeated this year.

Any member using this forum should please remember that the candidates are busy vets, so the timeliness of their responses will reflect that, and all questions should be relevant and courteous.

As in previous years, the election will be run independently through Electoral Reform Services – an experienced provider of election services in the UK and worldwide. We will make a donation of 20p to the DEC Haiti Earthquake Appeal on behalf of every vet that votes. Individuals who do not wish a donation to be made on their behalf can ‘opt out’ via email – please see details in the voting pack.

All votes must be received by 5pm on 30 April 2010.

• Only two nominations were received for the RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council and there were two places up for contest, so there will be no VN Council election this year.