RCVS Council and VN Council 2025 election results and turnout announced

Following the closure of the election period for RCVS Council and RCVS Veterinary Nurses Council on Friday 25 April, four veterinary surgeons and two veterinary nurses have been elected by their peers in the professions.

RCVS Council is responsible for the governance of the College, for example, by setting veterinary professional and educational standards. In this year’s election there were 20 veterinary surgeon candidates standing for the four available elected places on Council.

In total, 7,352 veterinary surgeons (representing 19% of those eligible to vote) cast a vote in the RCVS Council election. This compares to turnouts of 19.7% in 2024, 16.7% in 2023, 18.6% in 2022 and 24.5% in 2021.

Four candidates were elected for four-year terms which will start at the College’s Annual General Meeting on Friday, 4 July. These were:

• Dr Tshidi Gardiner MRCVS – 2,037 votes
• Dr Sam Bescoby MRVCS – 1,774 votes
• Paddy Gordon MRCVS – 1,639 votes
• Dr Danielle Greenberg MRCVS – 1,597 votes

In this year’s election for VN Council, which has the overall responsibility for all matters concerning veterinary nurse training, post-qualification awards and the registration of qualified veterinary nurses, there were three candidates standing for the two available elected places.

In total, 1,598 veterinary nurses (representing 6.4% of those eligible to vote) cast a vote in the VN Council election. This compares to turnouts of 7.4% in 2024, 8.8% in 2023, 8.4% in 2022 and 12.4% in 2021.

The two candidates elected for three-year terms, which will also start at this year’s RCVS AGM, are as follows:

• Bethan Pinhey RVN – 934 votes
• Hannah Welsman – 844 votes

Due to an amendment to the RCVS Council election scheme, approved by the Privy Council, this year’s elections were conducted entirely online by Civica Election Services, which runs elections on behalf of the RCVS.

Simon Wiklund, RCVS Assistant Registrar and Returning Officer for the elections, said: “Thank you to all the candidates who stood for election this year – including the record number standing for RCVS Council – and all those who cast their votes.

“Members of the professions who spare their time to serve on our councils and committees are the backbone of our governance and decision-making structures. By bringing their experiences and their ideas to the fore they provide that invaluable professional input and insight into the decisions we make, and we look forward to working with those who have been elected.

“As part of the election process, we make considerable efforts to ensure that members of the professions are able to have their say during the election period and this year, in addition to the initial voting email, seven reminder emails were sent to veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses who hadn’t yet voted.

“We also did a series of social media posts asking veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to check their emails for reminders and, for the very few members of the professions for whom we hold no email address, we sent them instructions via post on how to vote online.”

The full voting report can be found on the RCVS Council election and the VN Council election webpages. 

Royal College Day on Friday 4 July takes place at One Great George Street in Westminster and is open for all veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to attend. Further information will be published in due course.