NPA Elections 2021:Less than 24 hours left to vote!

Members have less than 24 hours left to vote in the hotly contested NPA elections!

Completed Ballot forms need to be completed and received by Midday Friday, February 26.

These will be some of the most competitive elections seen in the NPA's 21-year history as 31 excellent candidates vie for just 17 places on the Pig Industry Group (PIG). 

So your votes really will count. We have seen a steady stream of votes so far but we really want every single member - producer and allied - to use their right to vote and give the new PIG the best possible mandate. 
 

Voting

The best option for members and NPA is to vote via email. Ballot forms have been emailed to members. If you have not received one, they are available in the Members' Area. CLICK HERE.

Forms should be returned to:  

Members can also post their ballot forms back to NPA, Agriculture House, Stoneleigh Park, Kenilworth, CV8 2TZ. 

They must be received by the closing date - midday, February 26.

Postal ballots have been sent to those who have not (or cannot) voted online. 

"However, email is a much quicker and simpler way of voting for members - it will save you time and it will save on the admin at this end, too! So, if you can spare a few minutes today or over the next few days, please take some time to read the manifestos and vote via the emailed form," NPA chief executive Zoe Davies said. 

The results will be published in the March edition of Pig World and on the NPA website.

• For more information on the elections, including election videos posted by some candidates, see the special NPA Elections 21 section of the website HERE.

Key voting rules

Here is a reminder of some of the key rules: 

• You can only vote if you are a paid-up member of NPA. Only one vote may be cast per membership number - you must therefore agree who puts the casting vote forward.
• Producer members can only vote for producer candidates and allied industry members can only vote for allied industry candidates.
• A current producer member may vote for up to 10 producer candidates.
• A current allied industry member may vote for up to seven allied industry candidates.
• The voter is not obliged to use all votes, but you are encouraged to do so. Ballots will be invalidated if you exceed your allotted number of votes.
• Make sure you read all the manifestos before casting your vote!

The candidates

A total of 31 candidates from right across the pig sector will compete for 17 places in the first ever PIG elections.

• The newly elected group will consist of 10 producer and seven allied industry members.
• There will be a guaranteed producer seat for the candidates with the most votes in each of the five NPA regions – East Anglia, Midlands, North, South Central and South West – with the remaining five spaces taken by those with next highest number of votes.
• There will be a guaranteed seat for candidates with the most votes in each of the six allied sectors – Feed/Nutrition, Housing/Equipment, Marketing, Pharmaceutical, Processing and Veterinary – with the remaining seat being taken by the candidate holding the next highest number of votes.

Producers

There are seven producers standing from the hotly contested Eastern region, three each from the North and South West, two from the South Central region and one from the Midlands.

The full list of candidates is:

East Anglia

Jack Bosworth

Steve Hart

Andrew Houston

Fergus Howie

Robin Lawson

Rob Mutimer

Howard Revell

Midlands

Sam Godfrey

North

Joe Dewhirst

Matthew Donald

Phil Stephenson

South Central

Tom Allen

Sally Stockings

South West

Andrew Freemantle

Sophie Hope

Richard Knox

• You can read all the producer manifestos HERE

Allied Industry  

There are four candidates from the Feed/Nutrition sector, three each from Housing/Equipment and Pharmaceutical, two each from marketing and processing and one veterinary candidate.

Feed/Nutrition

Peter Bryant, A-One

Charlotte Evans, ForFarmers

Jason Evans, Cargill

Michelle Sprent, Premier Nutrition

Housing/Equipment

Hugh Crabtree, Farmex

Paul Hutton, Collinsons

Andrew Maskery, Andrew Maskery Associates

Marketing

Chris Barlow, Yorkshire Farmers

Oli Bown, Thames Valley Cambac

Pharmaceutical

Jack Fellows, Elanco UK

Laura Hancox, Zoetis

Eduardo Velazquez, Ceva Animal Health

Processing

Ash Gilman, Cranswick

Steve Urwin, Karro Food Group

Veterinary

Gemma Thwaites, Garth Pig Practice

• You can read all the allied industry manifestos HERE

NPA comment

Zoe said: “We are absolutely delighted to have such a strong field of candidates covering all our producer regions and all our allied sectors for the first ever PIG elections. Thank you to all the candidates for coming forward to represent your industry.

“It is now important that as many members as possible cast their votes. So please read the manifestos, vote online and help elect the strongest possible PIG!”