We’re over the moon to share that BEVA member Dr Sam Bescoby MRCVS has been elected to RCVS Council!
With 1,744 votes, Sam along with Dr Tshidi Gardiner MRCVS, Paddy Gordon MRCVS and Dr Danielle Greenberg MRCVS, will start his four-year term at the College’s Annual General Meeting on Friday 4 July.
When asked how he felt about his success Sam said:
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have been elected to RCVS Council — thank you to everyone who supported me. As a practicing equine vet, I care deeply about the future of our profession and the need to support retention across all sectors.
“I look forward to contributing my experience to help guide regulatory decisions, particularly around education, qualifications, and practice standards. The RCVS plays a key role in shaping the careers of veterinary professionals, and a thriving profession is essential to maintaining the highest standards of animal welfare.”
In total, 7,352 veterinary surgeons (representing 19% of those eligible to vote) cast a vote in the RCVS Council election. This compares to turnouts of 19.7% in 2024, 16.7% in 2023, 18.6% in 2022 and 24.5% in 2021.
Meanwhile, 1,598 veterinary nurses (representing 6.4% of those eligible to vote) cast a vote in the VN Council election. This compares to turnouts of 7.4% in 2024, 8.8% in 2023, 8.4% in 2022 and 12.4% in 2021. Bethan Pinhey RVN and Hannah Welsman were successfully elected and will start their three-year terms at the AGM.
Due to an amendment to the RCVS Council election scheme, approved by the Privy Council, this year’s elections were conducted entirely online by Civica Election Services, which runs elections on behalf of the RCVS.
Simon Wiklund, RCVS Assistant Registrar and Returning Officer for the elections, said: “Thank you to all the candidates who stood for election this year – including the record number standing for RCVS Council – and all those who cast their votes.
“Members of the professions who spare their time to serve on our councils and committees are the backbone of our governance and decision-making structures. By bringing their experiences and their ideas to the fore they provide that invaluable professional input and insight into the decisions we make, and we look forward to working with those who have been elected.
“As part of the election process, we make considerable efforts to ensure that members of the professions are able to have their say during the election period and this year, in addition to the initial voting email, seven reminder emails were sent to veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses who hadn’t yet voted.
“We also did a series of social media posts asking veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to check their emails for reminders and, for the very few members of the professions for whom we hold no email address, we sent them instructions via post on how to vote online.”
The full voting report can be found on the RCVS Council election and the VN Council election webpages.
Royal College Day on Friday 4 July takes place at One Great George Street in Westminster and is open for all veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses to attend. Further information will be published in due course.