The results of the 2022 elections for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council and Veterinary Nurses (VN) Council have now been published with three vets and two vet nurses being elected to their respective councils.
In this year’s election for RCVS Council, which is responsible for the governance of the College and setting veterinary professional and educational standards, there were 13 veterinary surgeon candidates standing for the three available elected places on Council.
In total 6,583 veterinary surgeons (representing 18.6 percent of those eligible to vote) cast their votes. This compares to turnouts of 24.5 percent in 2021, 26.2 percent in 2020 and 25.5 percent in 2019.
The three candidates, elected for four-year terms which will start at this year’s RCVS Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 8 July 2022, were as follows:
- Dr Susan Paterson, FRCVS, was re-elected with 2,358 votes
- Olivia Cook, MRCVS, was elected with 1,994 votes
- Dr Abbie Calow, MRCVS , was elected 1,820 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 eight candidates standing for the two available elected places.
In total 1,740 veterinary nurses (representing 8.4 percent of those eligible to vote) cast their votes. This compares to turnouts of 12.4 percent in 2021, 17.1 percent in 2020, and 14.5 percent in 2017 (there were no VN Council elections in 2018 or 2019).
The two candidates elected for three-year terms, which will also start at this year’s RCVS AGM, are as follows:
- Holly Witchell, RVN, was elected with 533 votes
- Jessica Louise Beckett, RVN, was elected with 451 votes
As in 2021, this year’s elections were conducted entirely online, with Civica Election Services, which runs elections on behalf of the RCVS, sending emails containing secure links to their respective voting websites to each eligible veterinary surgeon and veterinary nurse, along with reminders throughout the voting period.
Eleanor Ferguson, RCVS registrar and returning officer for both elections, said: “Many congratulations to all successful candidates, who we look forward to welcoming on to RCVS and VN Councils in July.
“Thank you once again this year to everyone who made the decision to stand in this year’s elections and to those who took the time to vote for their preferred candidates.
“We’re not exactly sure why both elections saw falling turnouts this year, but we do appreciate how extremely busy the professions are at the moment, and that everyone’s time is at a premium.
“As part of our ‘Council culture’ project we are looking at ways of improving all aspects of communicating the work around RCVS Council, VN Council and their committees, including around standing for and voting in elections.”
The full results for the RCVS Council election can be found at on the election page of the RCVS website, while those for VN Council can be found at on the respective VN Council election page.
