VIDEO: New vice-president beefs up NFU top table

Warwickshire farmer Adam Quinney has ousted Gwyn Jones to become NFU vice-president.

The same election saw NFU president Peter Kendall and deputy president Meurig Raymond re-elected for a fourth consecutive term as union leaders.

A beef and sheep producer from Sambourne, near Redditch, Mr Quinney’s past NFU posts include branch chairman, council representative and regional board chairman. He has also sat on the union’s national livestock committee.

Seen as a natural public speaker with strong presentational skills, Mr Quinney spoke without notes at election hustings across England and Wales, tailoring each speech he made to the different farming audiences in each region. He was nominated for the vice-president role by his home county.

Voting for NFU leaders is restricted to members of the union’s 87-strong council. But the election results reflect an FWi poll of more than 1,500 Farmers Weekly readers, which saw Mr Quinney win almost 35% of the popular vote – beating all six other vice-presidential candidates.

Speaking after his election, Mr Quinney said: “The main priority for me is to make sure we reinvigorate the membership at grassroots level, so they can take part in the policy-making and the decision-making process at the NFU to a greater degree.”

Mr Kendall, who faced no challengers, was re-elected NFU president with 85 votes for, one vote against and one abstention. Mr Raymond, who faced two challengers, was re-elected deputy president on the first round of voting.

Both men said they would maintain the fight for a better deal for farmers on issues such as CAP reform and bovine tuberculosis. The resounding vote put the union in a strong position to continue representing the farming industry, said Mr Kendall.

Read all the news and background on the NFU Conference and elections 2012 on our special pages