Following the recent RCOG President election, the RCOG Council will elect a new cohort of Vice Presidents in autumn 2025.
The Council elects five Vice Presidents (Officers), who will support the President-Elect in ensuring that the College’s long-term priorities and goals are firmly aligned with its core mission: to advance the O&G specialty and champion women’s health.
The Vice Presidents are senior Officers of the RCOG Council and occupy an honorary role within the College’s leadership. They are ambassadors for the global community of obstetricians and gynaecologists and professional leaders within the specialty. Working alongside the President, the Vice Presidents contribute their personal and professional expertise to help maintain the College’s standards of clinical excellence.
Over a three-year term, commencing on Friday 12 December, the newly elected Vice Presidents will support the College to achieve its ambitious five-year strategy, work with beneficiaries in the UK and globally, and deliver its strategic goals for 2025-30.
Each Vice President provides clinical leadership for their own individual portfolio, which is discussed and agreed with Council and the President-Elect. Portfolios vary depending on the College’s current priorities, but have previously included Global Health, Education, Clinical Quality, Academia and Strategy, and Membership and Workforce. Given this variety of activity, all prospective candidates are asked to demonstrate their overall suitability for the general Vice President role, rather than applying for any particular portfolio.
Timeline
| Monday 7 July | Nominations open |
| Monday 4 August | Nominations close |
| Friday 8 August | Nominees confirmed |
| Friday 29 August | Launch of online candidate profiles |
| Friday 12 September | Ballot at Council |
| Early in the week of 15 September | Result announcement |
| Friday 12 December | Commence in post |
Election process
Candidates for the role of Vice President must obtain nominations from three RCOG Fellows or Members in good standing. They must also submit a portfolio of documents evidencing their suitability for the role (as detailed in the nomination form and election guidance).
Each prospective candidate will first need to contact the College to obtain a nomination form and application pack. At this point, initial checks will be carried out to ensure that the individual fulfils the basic eligibility criteria.
To request a nomination form please contact RCOGElections@rcog.org.uk.
Candidate application submissions will be accepted until the close of the nomination period on Monday 4 August at 5pm UK time. Following a brief verification process, the successful nominees will then be publicly announced. Confirmed candidates will be invited to submit a video statement, which will be shared as part of their candidate profile for review by voting members. Elections will take place on Friday 12 September by a ballot of Council Fellows and Members.
Further details are available in the RCOG regulations and in the candidate pack.
Who is eligible to stand for Vice President?
In line with College regulations, candidates for the role of Vice President must meet the following criteria to be eligible to stand for election:
- To be a Fellow or Member of the College in active practice* in the UK/Republic of Ireland throughout the entire election period
- To be up to date with their membership subscription
- To have been nominated by three Fellows or Members (all of whom must also be up to date with their membership subscription)
*For an explanation of the term ‘active practice’, please see the FAQs below.
This excludes Trainees who are not yet members, Affiliates, Associates and Honorary Fellows (including Fellows ad eundem and Fellows honoris causa), who are not eligible to stand in these elections.
Individual Vice Presidents may be appointed as ex officio members of the Board of Trustees. All Vice President candidates are therefore required to meet the stated criteria for Trustees, which are outlined in the declaration of interests and good standing in the candidate pack.
Who can vote in the election?
The Vice Presidents are elected by voting members of the College’s Council.
In line with College regulations, the 2025 ballot will take place at a meeting of Council in September and those elected will take office in December.
How do I apply to be a candidate?
If you meet the eligibility criteria stated above and would like to stand as a candidate in the Vice President election, please complete the following steps:
1) Contact the College to request a nomination form and application pack
Email the College at RCOGElections@rcog.org.uk to request a nomination form, making sure to quote your membership number. Your details will first be checked to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria, and (if you are eligible) you will then be sent a nomination form and candidate application pack.
2) Secure your nominations and complete your application pack
You will first need to obtain nominations from three RCOG Fellows or Members (all of whom are up to date with their membership subscription) in order to stand for Vice President. These must be recorded on your nomination form, along with the signatures and membership details of all three of your nominators (“proposers”) and yourself.
You will be asked to provide a career summary and a statement of intent, outlining your intended approach and priorities as a College Vice President, as well as a headshot/personal photograph.
You must also review and sign the College’s election guidance and complete and sign a declaration of interests and good standing, both of which are included in your candidate pack.
All documents and form entries must be typewritten, signed and scanned, and returned to the Chief Executive (acting as the Returning Officer) at RCOGElections@rcog.org.uk.
All candidate applications must be received by Monday 4 August at 5pm UK time.
Following this deadline, all candidate applications will be subject to further checks to ensure they comply with the stated criteria and application guidelines.
Confirmed nominees will then be notified and the final list of electoral candidates will be published on Friday 8 August.
Frequently asked questions
The Vice Presidents are elected by voting members of the College’s Council.
Council will elect the five new Officers by ballot at their September meeting, using the Single Transferable Voting system (see below for an explanation of STV). Council members who are entitled to vote but unable to attend in person will be given the option to cast their ballot remotely.
College regulations state that a person will only be eligible to be elected as Vice President if she or he is in active practice throughout the election period. Regulation 1.1 defines “active practice”, in respect of a Fellow or Member, by the following criteria:
- Has a valid licence to practise as a medical practitioner from the UK General Medical Council or the Medical Council of Ireland (or any statutory successor to such bodies); and
- Is engaged as a medical practitioner in the UK or the Republic of Ireland in the practice of obstetrics and/or gynaecology for which a licence to practice is required in terms of (i) above; and
- Is not in arrears with her or his subscription to the College.
Please ensure all your documents and form entries are typewritten, and scanned files are of high quality and clearly legible. Please also note that where page or word limits are exceeded any additional text will be deleted.
Headshots must show the head and shoulders only, and must be high-resolution (minimum 600 pixels wide) with the face clearly lit.
The nomination form must be signed by all parties, and all sections must be complete. No substitutes for this form will be accepted (e.g. emails from nominators), so nominees are encouraged to collect their proposers’ signatures and populate the form in good time before the submission deadline.
Please note that all nominators/proposers (in addition to the nominee) must be fully up to date with their College membership fees for the nomination to be considered valid.
Yes. The College will accept either scanned signatures or a digital signature in place of a hand-signed document. The College will not accept a simple typed signature.
Please click this link for an explanation of Single Transferable Voting.
The newly elected Vice Presidents will assume office at a meeting of Council held on Friday 12 December 2025.
The Vice Presidents will hold office for a term of three years (as defined in regulation 10.24), at the end of which they shall retire.
New Council members are entitled to stand for election as Vice President, providing that they fulfil the Vice President nominee criteria detailed in the candidate pack. If a member of Council is elected to any Officer post, her or his place as a Council member will be deemed to be vacant in line with College regulations.
Officer roles and terms are considered to be separate and distinct from those of elected Council members, in line with College regulations (10.13). As such, current and former Council members who have served their full term(s) on Council are still eligible to stand for election as Vice President, providing they have not previously served in any Officer role (10.23).
Retiring Officers are not eligible to stand again for election as Vice President. They are also not eligible to stand for re-election to Council until three years have elapsed following their retirement as an Officer, and only where they have not already completed their full term(s) as an elected Council member (8.1, 8.2).