The Council of the Royal College of General Practitioners
comprises 33 elected faculty representatives; up to 18 members
elected by a postal ballot of all fellows and members; and
observers, who cannot vote. Additional members may also be
appointed by a General Meeting or by Council and have full voting
powers.
The total number of elected members and additional members
cannot exceed the authorised number of faculty representatives
without the sanction of the College at a General Meeting.
Members of Council must be fellows or members of the College
and the two GP Registrar observers must be associates of the
College.
Faculty representatives
Every faculty is entitled to elect one of its members as a
member of Council. The timing of the election varies in each
faculty. The College Byelaws provide that where there are more
candidates for election than there are places to be filled, the
election shall be conducted by a postal ballot of all members of
the faculty. The faculty boards are themselves elected from the
membership of the faculty as a whole. There is no limit to the
length of office of a faculty representative.
A faculty is permitted to have a second representative where
its membership exceeds 5 per cent of the total membership of the
College. Five faculties as a result now have two
representatives.
If a faculty has a representative who becomes Chairman,
Vice-Chairman, Honorary Secretary or Honorary Treasurer of Council,
or a Network Chairman, that faculty may be allowed another
representative in his or her place. This flexibility has been
granted as the workload of these Officers is considerable and there
is a consequent danger that a faculty might not be fully
represented.
In order to ensure full representation of faculties on
Council, faculties also elect a deputy faculty representative who
attends Council on those occasions when the faculty representative,
or additional faculty representative, is unable to be present. The
elected deputy faculty representatives have full voting rights when
attending Council Meetings.
Elected Council Members - Election
Arrangements
All members of the College are entitled to vote by ballot to
elect, in any one year, six members of Council in addition to
faculty representatives. Voting takes place each year by post and
is overseen by Electoral Reform Services. Members of Council
elected by national ballot hold office for three years, so that in
any one year there are up to 18 elected members of Council. Members
are eligible to stand for election to Council provided they have
been proposed and seconded by two other members of the College in
accordance with the procedure set out in the Ordinances of the
College.
Additional Council members
Council is empowered to appoint additional members who are
often members of the College with a particular expertise.
Observers
It is customary for a number of individuals to be selected as
observers to Council. These include, where they are not already a
member of Council, the Editor and Deputy Editor of the College
Journal, Honorary Editor of College Publications, the Convenor of
the MRCGP Panel of Examiners, a representative of the Armed
Services, the two College Representatives on the General
Practitioners Committee (GPC), the two GPC representatives to the
College, a representative of the Conference of Postgraduate
Advisers in General Practice of the United Kingdom, a
representative of The Society for Academic Primary Care
(SAPC), a GP representative of the British International Doctors
Association (BIDA), the lay Chairman of the College's Patient
Partnership Group(PPG) and two elected GP Registrar
representatives. Observers are entitled to speak in debate but not
to vote.
GP Registrar
representatives
GP
Registrars are not eligible to become members of the College, but
they are encouraged to become associates. Most faculties have
registrar associates on the faculty boards as well as some form of
registrar committee or group. There are two registrar
representatives on Council elected for a two-year period by
registrar associates of the College in a postal ballot. One of the
registrar observers represents the College on the RCGP Postgraduate
Training Committee and the other on the GPC registrar
subcommittee.
Officers of Council and Network
Chairmen
There are five Officers of Council each of whom is elected
annually by and from the Council itself at its first meeting
following the Annual General Meeting. The Chairman of Council and
Chairmen of the Networks normally hold office for three years. The
Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer normally hold office for
several years in order to provide continuity, and up to
Vice-Chairmen are normally appointed annually.
President of the College
The President and, if there is a
Deputy President, the Deputy President, is an ex officio
member of Council. The President is elected by postal ballot of the
whole membership. The term of office is three years (including any
time spent as Deputy President).