NFU elections 2024: Runners and riders confirmed
Current NFU officeholders Tom Bradshaw, Minette Batters and David Exwood © NFU Nominations for candidates wishing to stand for the NFU’s leadership have closed, with a number of hopefuls set to fight it out for the roles of deputy president and vice-president.
Minette Batters will be stepping down from her post in February after 10 years as an officeholder, including six years as the union’s first female president.
She will be replaced as president by her current deputy, Tom Bradshaw, a fourth-generation arable farmer based at Fordham, Essex, who is standing unopposed.
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Nominations for the top officeholder roles at the NFU closed at 5pm on Sunday 7 January.
Contenders for the two vacant posts of deputy president and vice-president have been confirmed.
Current NFU vice-president David Exwood will be seeking to move up the ranks to deputy. But he will face stiff competition from three other farmers vying for the role.
West Midlands dairy farmer Michael Oakes, Lancashire livestock farmer Thomas Binns and Yorkshire beef and sheep farmer Rachel Hallos will all be competing for the roles of deputy and vice-president
Hampshire arable farmer Matt Culley, the current chairman of the NFU Combinable Crops Board, and Wiltshire farmer Mark Jeffery are also standing as vice-president.
All seven election hopefuls have published personal statements on NFU Online.
A week-long series of six regional hustings, reserved for NFU members only, will now be held.
These will start in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Monday 15 January, culminating with a virtual (online) hustings on Thursday 18 January.
The NFU elections will take place at a special meeting of the NFU council at the end of the union’s conference at the ICC in Birmingham on 21 February 2024.Â
Connon uncontested for NFU Scotland vice-president
Aberdeenshire farmer Andrew Connon will stand unchallenged for the role of vice-president of NFU Scotland (NFUS).
Mr Connon has served as vice-president since February 2021 and, if approved by the union’s council, he will be re-elected for another one-year term.
“It will be a huge honour to serve the membership for another year, especially when the changes, challenges and opportunities facing Scottish farmers and crofters are immense,” said Mr Connon.
“If successfully re-elected, I will remain fully committed to driving forward the work NFU Scotland is doing on behalf of its 9,000 members across Scotland.”
Highland Perthshire farmer Martin Kennedy will remain as president after he was re-elected for the position for a further two-year term in February 2023.
The NFUS council meeting will take place during the union’s annual conference at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 February 2024.