NFU 2010: Election race goes to the wire
The outcome of the imminent NFU presidential election is too close to call, suggest viewing figures from the video sharing website YouTube.
Candidates are running neck and neck for two out of three positions up which are for grabs on Wednesday (24 February).
Videos highlighting the views of 14 candidates have now been watched more than 2000 times on YouTube.
Viewing figures suggest Peter Kendall is almost certain to be re-elected NFU president for a third consecutive term on Wednesday (24 February).
Mr Kendall’s campaign video has been viewed 260 times. A video featuring presidential challenger Derek Mead has been viewed just 92 times.
But there is no clear favourite for the roles of deputy president and vice-president.
Videos featuring four deputy presidential candidates have been viewed a total of 741 times.
Yorkshire farmer Paul Temple has most views (36.4%), with incumbent deputy president Meurig Raymond in second place (25%).
Lancashire farmer Thomas Binns and Sussex farmer Gwyn Jones, who are both also standing for vice-president, have less than 20% of viewings each.
Although this suggests Mr Temple is in the lead, union rules require him to secure more than 50% of all votes to be named the winner.
If votes mirror viewings in the election, then the candidate with the fewest votes would drop out, and a second round of voting would take place.
This makes predicting the final result difficult.
Viewing figures for 10 vice-president candidates also show no clear leader in what is one of the most intriguing election battles in NFU history.
Five of the 10 candidates each have 10-15% of total video viewings, with the remainder each having 6-9%.
Norfolk farmer Richard Hirst is in the lead with 15.5%, followed by Yorkshire farmer Rosey Dunn (12.3%) and Thomas Binns (11.8%).
But any of them could be easily overtaken by any of the remaining candidates in a subsequent round of voting.
President (352 views) | ||
| Peter Kendall | 260 | 73.9 |
| Derek Mead* | 92 | 26.1 |
Deputy president (741 views) | ||
| Paul Temple | 270 | 36.4 |
| Meurig Raymond | 185 | 25 |
| Thomas Binns | 146 | 19.7 |
| Gwyn Jones | 140 | 18.9 |
Vice-president (1236 views) | ||
| Richard Hirst | 192 | 15.5 |
| Rosey Dunn | 152 | 12.3 |
| Thomas Binns | 146 | 11.8 |
| Guy Smith | 145 | 11.7 |
| Gwyn Jones | 140 | 11.3 |
| Alastair Mackintosh | 104 | 8.4 |
| Mark Leggott | 92 | 7.4 |
| Anthony Rew | 87 | 7 |
| Adam Quinney | 81 | 6.6 |
| Nick Adams | 97 | 7.8 |
| Source: YouTube, 1500hrs, Mon 23 Feb * Video hosted on YouTube, but not by NFU | ||
Keep up to date with all the latest news from NFU Conference onour specialreport page.