The BMA is pleased to confirm that Dr Latifa Patel has been elected unopposed to serve the next three years as chair of the Representative Body ahead of the Association’s Annual Representative Meeting (ARM) in Brighton which is taking place 27-29 June. Dr Patel is the first ethnic minority woman and first junior doctor to hold the post in the BMA’s history.
Currently a ST7 paediatric respiratory trainee based between Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool and the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Dr Patel was elected as deputy chair of the Representative Body in 2019 and has been acting chair since June 2021. In addition to chairing the BMA’s Annual Representative Meeting and managing its organisation and smooth running, Dr Patel is a member of the Association’s chief officer team and responsible for leading on representational issues and ensuring that policy set by the Representative Body is acted on by the Association between ARM meetings.
Dr Patel’s election comes ahead of the election of a new chair of BMA Council as Dr Chaand Nagpaul stands down after coming to the end of his 5-years in office.
The new chair of Council must be a member of BMA Council 2022-23 and will be voted in by the newly elected voting members of Council at a special Council meeting on Wednesday 29 June after the close of the Association’s ARM.
BMA Council is the Association’s principal executive committee, and its chair is also chair of the BMA’s Board of Directors and a member of the chief officer team. The chair will be elected by Single Transferable Vote to serve for a three-year term and provides overall leadership in developing and implementing the policies, objectives and strategies of the BMA. The result of the election will be announced soon after, with the new chair of Council taking up their post with immediate effect.
Four members of the BMA Council are standing in the election for the incoming BMA Chair of Council. They are:
Professor Phil Banfield. A Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Glan Clwyd Hospital NHS Health Board, Wales.
Dr Tom Dolphin. A Consultant Anaesthetist at a London NHS Trust
Dr Vishal Sharma. A Consultant Cardiologist at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr David Wrigley. A GP based in Carnforth, Lancashire
The chair of the Representative Body and chair of Council are two of four chief officers, along with the Treasurer and deputy chair of Council. The election for Treasurer will take place during the ARM in Brighton. The candidates for this election are Dr Peter Holden, a General Practitioner in Matlock, Derbyshire and Dr Trevor Pickersgill, a Consultant Neurologist in Cardiff. The election for the post of deputy chair of Council will take place at July’s meeting of BMA Council to complete the Association’s new chief officer team.
