The RFU Council, together with the RFU’s Board of Directors and the Executive Staff govern and administer rugby in England.
The Council has a number of responsibilities, principally monitoring and oversight of the Board on behalf of the members, and acting as a conduit for information to and from the game as a whole. Council members are also full voting members of the RFU (alongside clubs, Constituent Bodies, National Representative Bodies and Referee Societies) and are entitled to vote at the RFU’s Annual General Meeting and Special General Meetings.
Council members are elected for terms of three years, up to an aggregate maximum of nine years (with some limited exemptions). As a Constituent Body of the RFU, Kent (i.e., the KCRFU, KSRFUR or any individual from a voting member club – which also includes schools, colleges, universities) is entitled to elect one individual to represent the CB’s interests. Its current Council member, Roger Clarke’s second (of three, maximum) three-year term will draw to a close at the end of the 2023-24 season. As is required by RFU Rule 18 (Election and Removal of Council Members), we will soon be commencing the process to elect the CB’s Council member for the three-year period from 2024-25.
It is Roger’s intention to stand again, not least so that he can continue and complete the work he does as a member of the Community Game Board, a Trustee of the Rugby Football Foundation, Chair of the RFU Game Development Committee (covering such issues as Match official standards, Coaching Development, Medical Safety / Injury Monitoring); and on two ad hoc Oversight Groups (Adult Registration and the Payment of Player Regulation Review).
There are no qualification criteria for a candidate. However, in practice, it is desirable for candidates to be members of a CB committee, even in an ex officio capacity, to ensure policy alignment between the Council member and CB. Nevertheless, it is important that the Council has a diverse range of talent available to it, which is representative of the game as a whole, and the communities involved. To this end, we are seeking nominations of individuals to stand for election (proposed and seconded, as set out below); we welcome applications from across our rugby.
A copy of the Job Description can be viewed on the below link. The minimum amount of time currently required of a Council member during a season with RFU and CB responsibilities is approximately 15-20 days (covering such tasks and duties as CB and club liaison, RFU Council attendance, some RFU input to sub-committees, attendance at a range of representative fixtures, including Men, Red Roses, and U 20 matches to cross reference with similar representatives from other Six Nations teams).
Proposal of Candidates: Candidates must be proposed by one full voting member club and seconded by another full voting member club. A CB itself can propose or second a candidate. To be eligible for election, the CB must have received the nomination in writing(email is acceptable) from both the proposer and the seconder to office@kent-rugby.org by no later than Monday 1 March 2024. If either is received after this deadline, the CB cannot accept the candidate. Even if a CB assumes that a club will be a proposer or seconder, unless it has this in writing from the club, it is not valid and the candidate cannot be included in the election process.
Further details as to the hustings and voting process (incl. eligibility to vote) will be announced in due course.
Nigel Fray
Hon. Secretary & Director of Governance
| Time | Action for CB/NRB | Mandatory or recommended |
| December/January | Remind member clubs of election and ask for candidates | Recommended |
| 1 March | Deadline for candidates to be proposed and seconded | Mandatory |
| Early March | Ask candidates for CVs and/or manifestos (if not already supplied) | Recommended |
| 15 March | Deadline for CB/NRB to send out candidates details to members | Mandatory |
| Before 28 March | Hold election by post/email or by hustings meeting | Mandatory |
| 28 March | Deadline for responses for post/email ballot | Mandatory |
| 1 April | Deadline for informing RFU of elected representative | Mandatory |
| 1 April | CB/NRB to inform its members of the result | Recommended |
| 1 August | Council terms begin | Mandatory |
