The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has announced that RCVS President-elect Niall Connell, Linda Belton and Jo Dyer have been re-elected to Council after what is believed to have been a record turn out this century.

A total of 8,234 votes were cast in this year’s election, a turnout of 25.5%. The College says the previous highest turnout recorded this century was 22.8%, and it thinks this year's result may even be an all-time record.

The full 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

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 declared formally at this year’s Royal College Day – the College’s 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.

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