Maries policy for new NFU
Maries policy for new NFU
With elections for top jobs in the NFU just days
away, Tim Relf talks to Marie Skinner, who
has her sights on a high-ranking position
MARIE Skinners son passed his driving test last year – an event which may seem unconnected with her bid to become the first woman NFU deputy president.
But she would not, she says, be standing for the position had he not done so. Living in the countryside, she is well aware of the realities of rural life – among them travel and public transport. "I do not now have to be a taxi service anymore," says Marie.
With elections due to take place next week (Feb 7), the Norfolk farmer reckons she is now the main challenger to Tim Bennett. "People are saying its time for a change.
"If it was one member, one vote, I wouldnt have any hesitation in thinking I would get it. Grass roots reaction has been very positive."
Meanwhile she is happy to be seen as the "radical" candidate. One comment recently made to her was: "You are certainly rattling a few cages." "Well someone has to do it," she says.
Establishing the NFU as the "one voice" for UK agriculture, modernising it and raising the profile of arable issues are the three central planks of her campaign.
"I am saying the world in which we are living has got to change, that the farming industry has got to change and the union has to change."
To become this "one voice", the NFU has to work more closely with other organisations. "Everyone from UKASTA and the RSPB to the TFA and the CRPE.
"We have a government where policy is determined by public opinion. NFU lobbying government is not enough. The NFU has to influence the public."
Marie, although married to a farmer, does not come from farming stock, something which she reckons will be an advantage in the battle for public opinion.
"It is easier for me to put across farming messages than it is for some of those who are seen as traditional farming types."
As to how she wants to change the NFU itself, she is proposing devolving power to regions and establishing a representative board as governing body, instead of the current 94-member council. This would be more like a company board, with no more than 20 directors. "The whole committee structure has not changed for over 30 years. Everything happens so fast. You have to be faster reacting."
She knows, if her bid to join the NFU top brass is successful, it will mean big changes to her life. A much higher personal profile and more time in London, for starters.
But she will still, it seems likely, find time to pursue her passion for riding. "It fits in if you are busy. You do not have to arrange it, the horse is always there."
She hopes, even if her campaign is unsuccessful, that it will have raised awareness of important issues.
"I only want it if I can do it to do the things that are important. I do not need it from a personal point of view."
Marie Skinner: Someone has to rattle cages.
Sheriff of Chester Councillor Eleanor Johnson presents £850 to Ian Lloyd of the Cheshire Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution. The annual sheriffs breakfast raised more than £2500 with the money split between RABI, the Hospice of the Good Shepherd and Clarie House Childrens Hospice.