Three new candidates amongst those elected to Council

The results of this year's RCVS Council Elections have been announced today and, from July, there will be three new faces on Council. It is also the first time that three women have been elected in any one year.

Current Council Members Neil Gorman, Christine Shield and Geoff Skerritt have been re-elected to serve for a further four years, and will be joined by new members Jacqui Molyneux, Bob Partridge and Clare Tapsfield-Wright. All six will formally take their place on Council at RCVS Day on 7 July 2006.

Neil Gorman
Jacqui Molyneux
Bob Partridge
Christine Shield
Geoff Skerritt
Clare Tapsfield-Wright

In total, 3,598 ballot papers were returned this year, an almost identical number to the 2005 elections. However, due to a rise in the number of registered members, the overall turnout dropped very slightly from 18% to 17.5%.

There was, however, a significant increase in the number of spoiled ballot papers returned with 42 papers not counted compared with an average of ten over the previous five years. The reasons for this are unclear.

Commenting on the election results, Junior Vice-President Professor Sheila Crispin said:  "It's encouraging that the higher turnout that we enjoyed last year has continued as the work of the RCVS affects the entire profession. I would hope that, next year, even more members will appreciate that they can help shape the future of the RCVS by voting in this election.

"I should like to thank all the candidates who stood for election this year, and pass on my congratulations to those who were successful and commiserations to those who weren't on this occasion. I look forward in particular to working with our new Council Members and helping them get to grips with the full breadth of RCVS activities."

Download the detailed election results (PDF file - 54Kb)