One man-one vote near

4 February 2000

One man-one vote near

THE NFU has moved a step closer to a mandatory one-member one-vote system for the election of representatives to its council.

At the moment, council delegates are elected by NFU members who have to find time to attend special regional meetings around the country.

But delegates at the NFU conference in London voted in favour of a resolution to introduce a postal ballot for the election of regional council representatives.

The resolution was supported by Ian Pettyfer, a Devon farmer in his 70s, who has campaigned throughout most of his life for a change to the NFUs election system.

Those in favour of the proposal argued that all NFU members should be given the chance to vote even if they chose not to exercise that right.

But others said that giving members the opportunity to vote by post would mean they would be less inclined to attend meetings.

The vote proved extremely tight, but the news that the resolution had been carried was met by cheers from the conference floor. The resolution, which was rejected by council members last year, will now pass to council for consideration at the March council meeting.