National general secretary addresses Branch Council

2 May 2018

The general secretary of the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has addressed the first Branch Council meeting for newly elected Leicestershire Police Federation workplace representatives.

Andy Fittes spoke to elected members and told them of his vision for the future of the Federation over the coming years.

Among the posts filled at the meeting, Matt Robinson was re-elected as Leicestershire branch secretary, Dave Stokes becomes assistant secretary, Jon Carter-Lang was re-elected as equality lead and Leon Gamble becomes health and safety lead.

Matt said afterwards: “I am very proud to be elected by colleagues to serve as secretary in Leicestershire for a further term. Thanks for your confidence. There is lots of work for us all to do now to create a Federation for the future.”

The 2018 national Police Federation elections being held in most of the 43 branches across England and Wales began in February and will take several months to complete.

They were the first to be held under the new regulations introduced after the independent review of PFEW led by Sir David Normington.

Elections are usually held every three years and Federation members in the majority of branches across England and Wales could nominate themselves for election during two weeks in February with voting for workplace representatives using an online process taking place from 1 to 21 March.

The results were announced at the end of March and those elected formed the Branch Council for their local Federation.

Members of the Branch Council then voted for a small group of representatives to form the executive – the Branch Board.

Leicestershire Police Federation’s Branch Board now comprises: 

PC Mark Bailey

PC Jon Carter-Lang

PS Sanj Chauhan

Chief Inspector Chris Cockerill

PS Leon Gamble

PS Danny Graham

Ch Insp Jason Ross

PS Dave Stokes

Ch Insp Jed Keen

Matt Robinson

Tiff Lynch.

Nominations for branch chair are open now and close on 11 May. All members on the Branch Board are eligible to stand.

With elections being held in branches across England and Wales, where there are contested seats, members will be invited to vote for their local Federation chair from 14 to 30 May with each officer being sent an email with their Unique Voting Code (UVC).

Members can also vote for the national chair in July. Members will be sent an email with a link to the voting site and further instructions at the appropriate time.

Steps have also been taken to improve the representation of previously under-represented groups including women and BME officers.

If you have any further questions about the election process, please contact the Federation office.