The BMA UK council is the principal executive committee of the trade union. It sets the strategic direction of the association in line with policy decided by the representative body. Council is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policy throughout the year between annual representative meetings.
Our people
BMA council currently has 69 voting members. Each is directly elected by the membership to give a geographical and branch of practice mix as well as five seats for ethnic minority members.
There are also a number of ex-officio non-voting members, including those who chair some of the many committees reporting to council.
UK council members
Council chair - Professor Philp Banfield
Chair of representative body - Latifa Patel
Treasurer - Trevor Pickersgill
President – Mary McCarthy
Northern Ireland council - Alan Stout
Scottish council - Ian Kennedy
Welsh council - Iona Collins
Consultants committee - Shanu Datta and Helen Neary
General practitioners committee - Katie Bramall-Stainer
Resident doctors committee - Ross Nieuwoudt and Melissa Ryan
Medical academic staff committee - David Strain
Medical ethics committee - Andy Green
Medical students committee - Rob Tucker
Private practice committee - Jennifer Yell
Public health medicine committee - Heather Grimbaldeston
Staff, associate specialists and speciality doctor committee - Ujjwala Mohite
Board of the BMJ Publishing Group - Peter Vicary-Smith
Board of science - David Strain
Organisation committee - Jamshid Khan
Patient liaison group - Joint chairs - Emma Beeden / Rowena Skinnner
Retired members committee - Peter Curry
Alphabetical last name list of members elected in the 2022 election to serve until the close of the ARM in 2026 (2024 for medical student seats)
Becky Acres (Resident doctors, East Midlands)
Raymond Agius (Occupational Medicine North West)
Shah Ali (Resident doctors, West Midlands)
Shohaib Ali (Resident doctors, London)
Jackie Applebee (General practice, London)
David Bailey (General practice, Wales)
Philip Banfield (Consultants, Wales)
Stuart Blake (General practice, Scotland)
Katie Bramall-Stainer (Eastern Region)
Ollie Burton (Resident doctors, West Midlands)
Hannah Cagney (Resident doctors, Scotland)
Anne Carson (Consultants, Northern Ireland)
John Chisholm (Other, London)
Christine Clayton (General practice, South East Coast)
Emma Coombe (Resident doctors, South West)
Cristina Costache (Resident doctors, Yorkshire)
Vassili Crispi (Resident doctors, Yorkshire)
Adam Daneshmend (Resident doctors, London)
Jacky Davis (Consultants, London)
Thomas Dolphin (Consultants, London)
Louis Downland (Medical Students, London)
Paul Evans, (General practice, North East)
Sam Everington (General practice, London)
Alex Freeman (General practice, South Central)
Raanan Gillon (Academics, London)
Gaurav Gupta (General practice, South East Coast)
Sara Hedderwick (Consultants, Northern Ireland)
Michael Henley (Consultants, East Midlands)
Peter Holden (General practice, East Midlands)
Ian Martyn Hume (General practice, Eastern)
Shan Hussain (General practice, East Midlands, Ethnic minority)
Alphabetical last name list of members elected in the 2022 election to serve until the close of the ARM in 2026 (2024 for medical student seats).
Nyree Jackson (Resident doctors, West Midlands)
Anil Jain (Consultant, North West)
Gabrielle Jee (Resident doctors, Wales)
Terry John (General practice, London, Ethnic minority)
Omer Karim, (Consultants, South Central)
Iain Kennedy (General practice, Scotland)
Zain Khan (Medical Students, North East)
Amit Kochhar (Staff, associate specialists and specialty doctor, North West)
Sumi Manirajan (Resident doctors, London)
Kitty Mohan (Consultants, London, Ethnic minority)
Lewis Morrison (Consultants Scotland)
Anvarjon Mukhammadaminov (Resident doctors, South Central)
Serge Omanyondo (Resident Doctors, West Midlands, Ethnic minority)
Susan Overal (Retired members, South West)
Siddhant Parashar (Resident Doctors, North West)
Siobhan Quinn (Staff, associate specialists and specialty doctor, Northern Ireland)
Emma Runswick (Resident Doctors, North West)
Gurleen Sahota (Medical Students, London,)
Helen Salisbury (General practice, South Central)
Eli Sasson (Medical Students, East Midlands)
Wendy Savage (Retired doctors, London)
Selvaseelan Selvarjah (Resident doctor, London)
Vish Sharma (Consultants, North West)
Arjan Singh (Resident doctors Ethnic minority)
Adam Skeen (Medical Students, Scotland)
Alan Stout (General practice, Northern Ireland)
David Strain (Academics, South West)
Joanna Sutton-Klein (Resident doctor, Yorkshire)
Reshma Syed (General practice, South East Coast)
Marie Tolan (Resident doctors, West Midlands)
Penelope Toff (Public health medicine, South Central)
Richard Vautrey (General practice, Yorkshire)
Poh Jah Wang (Resident Doctors, North West)
Mark Weir (Armed Forces, South Central)
David Wrigley (General practice, North West)
Jennifer Yell (Consultant, North West)
Vacant (Resident doctors, Eastern)
Our meetings
The UK council meets six times a year. The meetings take place at BMA House in London or virtually from 10am to 5pm.
Next meetings of the 2024-25 session
- Wednesday 22 January 2025
- Tuesday 18 March 2025
- Wednesday 19 March 2025
- Wednesday 14 May 2025
Our terms of reference
The BMA UK council sets the strategic direction of the association in line with policy decided by the representative body at the annual representative meeting. It is responsible for the formulation of policy throughout the year and is the principal executive committee of the trade union.
The constitution
Council comprises 69 members elected from a single UK constituency covering geography, branch of practice and ethnic minority representation. Gender constraints are also applied.
The council electoral zones are: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, north eastern, north western, central, eastern, London, central southern, and south western.
The branch of practice categories are academics, armed forces, consultants, general practice, resident doctors, medical students, occupational medicine, public health medicine, retired doctors, staff, associate specialists and specialty doctors.
The full constitution of council is set out below:
- President of the association
- Chair of the representative body
- Deputy chair of the representative body
- Chair of council
- Treasurer
- Chair of Northern Ireland council
- Chair of Scottish council
- Chair of Welsh council.
And the chairs of those committees and boards as specified annually by council on the advice of the organisation committee, subject to the proviso that the number of ex-officio members (excluding the four chief officers: the president of the association, the chair of the representative body, the chair of council and the treasurer) shall not exceed half the total number of voting members.
Voting members are elected from a single UK constituency and are drawn from all UK electoral zones and from all branches of practice.
To ensure a spread of members from around the UK and from the various branches of practice, at least one member will be elected from each electoral zone and at least one from each branch of practice. Medical students will be limited to a maximum of two elected members and retired members to one elected member.
The UK electoral zones are: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, north eastern, north western, central, eastern, London, central southern, and south western.
The branch of practice categories are academics, armed forces, consultants, general practice, resident doctors, medical students, occupational medicine, public health medicine, retired doctors, staff, associate specialists and specialty doctors.
In accordance with the TULCRA 1992, only those members directly elected to council by the membership of the BMA are eligible to vote.
Elections
Eastern region by-election
Nominations for the election of one voting member to the vacant Eastern region seat on BMA UK Council open on Monday 16 December 2024 and close 4pm Monday 6 January 2025. Find out more and how to nominate yourself.
Consultant by-election
Voting for the election of one voting member to the vacant Consultant Branch of Practice seat on BMA UK Council closed on Thursday 28 November. View the report from our independent election scrutineer and the election result.
Upcoming
Elections for the whole council are scheduled for spring 2026.
Get in touch
We're happy to answer any queries, give advice or help on any matter related to the UK council. Email council secretariat.
As of 18 September, all references to junior doctors in BMA communications have been changed to ‘resident doctors’.
Making up nearly 25% of all doctors in the UK, this cohort will now have a title that better reflects their huge range of skills and responsibilities.
Find out more about why junior doctors are now known as 'resident doctors'.