Record turnout for 2019 RCVS Council election

Just over one-quarter of veterinary surgeons eligible to vote did so in this year’s election of three candidates to RCVS Council – a record in the recent history of College elections.

There were nine candidates standing in this year’s election, which closed at 5pm on Friday 26 April, and the results, in order of number of votes, are:

• Niall Connell – 3,766 votes (re-elected)
• Linda Belton – 3,581 votes (elected)
• Jo Dyer – 3,146 votes (re-elected)
• John Innes – 2,716 votes
• Kate Richards – 2,283 votes
• Tim Greet – 2,280 votes
• Peter Robinson – 1,791 votes
• John Davies – 507 votes
• Tom Lonsdale – 422 votes

Niall Connell, Linda Belton and Jo Dyer

A total of 8,234 votes were cast in this year’s election (2,207 of which were by post and 6,027 of which were online) making for a record total turnout of 25.5%. The closest that College elections had come to this turnout in previous years was in 2017 when 22.8% (or 6,785) of those eligible to vote that year did so.

Eleanor Ferguson, RCVS Registrar and Returning Officer for the election, said: “Congratulations to Niall and Jo for being re-elected to Council and congratulations also to Linda who we look forward to welcoming to Council at this year’s Royal College Day on Friday 12 July. I would also like to thank Kate, Tim and Peter for their contributions during their time on Council and give my commiserations to them and the other candidates who were unsuccessful this year.

“I was delighted to see that, this year, we had over a quarter of those eligible to vote doing so which means both a record number of votes and a record turnout –it seems this was assisted by our email reminders which, each time they were sent out, lead to a significant boost in  uptake.

“However, we will not rest on our laurels and will continue to think about how we can further improve engagement in the election process and turnout for subsequent years.”

The results of the election will be formally declared at this year’s Royal College Day – our Annual General Meeting and awards ceremony – which takes place at the Royal Institute of British Architects on Friday 12 July 2019 where the successful candidates will also start their new four-year terms.

No election to Veterinary Nursing Council was held this year due to the fact that there were only two candidates – Liz Cox and Jane Davidson – standing for the two elected places. Both Liz and Jane will take up their three-year terms at Royal College Day.