23 July 2009
The vote of each organisation took place at separate special general meetings on 23 July 2009: the Faculty at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh and the Institute at Staple Inn Hall in London.
Associates, Fellows and Honorary Fellows of the Faculty; and Associates and Fellows of the Institute were eligible to vote. Ronnie Bowie, Faculty President, said: “I am delighted that Faculty members have supported the merger and are keen for change. I am also delighted that a similar proportion of Institute members have a desire for change. We will honour this desire while continuing to improve member support and building on our increased engagement with the membership. I’d like to thank all those who have taken the time to vote, and those who’ve played a part in placing this merger proposal before the members.”
Nigel Masters, Institute President, said: “We didn’t quite make the high threshold but it’s clear that the majority of our members who voted did support change. We have to consider why our proposals didn’t command enough support and so the Institute Council will consult with members and look at which elements of the proposal need further improvement.”
The votes were as follows*:
| Faculty | Institute | |
|---|---|---|
| No. of votes cast: | 981 | 5,115 |
| No. of votes cast for: | 721 | 3,662 |
| No. of votes against: | 260 | 1,454 |
| Threshold (required number of votes cast): | 654 | 3,837 |
| Number of votes issued | 1,532 | 8,545 |
| Abstentions (not counted in votes cast): | 13 | 67 |
| Spoilt papers (not counted in votes cast): | 0 | 1 |
* Notes on figures
1. The Faculty vote had 13 abstentions, and the Institute vote had 67 abstentions and one spoilt ballot. None of these were counted in the votes cast.
2. In checking the voting figures on 24 July 2009, Electoral Reform Services (ERS) and the Profession identified that two student members of the Institute had been incorrectly issued with proxy voting materials. As a consequence one proxy vote was returned although student members are ineligible to vote. On 24 and 27 July 2009 ERS re-checked all votes to ensure this was an isolated incident and to remove the relevant proxy. The certified voting figures as declared at the Institute SGM on 23 July 2009 have therefore had to be adjusted by one.
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