General Medical Council to elect a new president to succeed Irvine

Members of the General Medi-cal Council will elect a new president next week to succeed Sir Donald Irvine, who steps down from the post at the end of the year.

Nominations, which require the support of two of the 104 council members, closed last month. Candidates will have the opportunity to put their case at a dinner the night before the election at the Royal College of Physicians in London.

The six nominees have all served or continue to serve on various GMC committees. They are Professor Graeme Catto, Professor James Drife, Dr Brian Keighley, Mr Olusola Oni, Dr Shiv Pande, and Professor Wendy Savage.

Professor Catto is thought to be favourite to win the contest, which will be secured by single transferable vote, and the winner will be announced immediately after the votes have been counted on 6 November. The term of office is for a maximum of seven years, but council membership is for a fixed term of five years, so any president would have to be re-elected to the council first. All members of …