The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7391 p299
11 March 2006

Society summary

Canvassing by candidates in the Council election 2006

The Society has received a number of complaints regarding unsolicited e-mails seeking support for a candidate in the Council election.

The Council’s agreed policy on canvassing is as follows:

The Council’s previous restrictions on canvassing were designed to give candidates an equal opportunity of presenting their views to the membership. However, some felt that the restrictions gave an unfair advantage to existing members of Council and other well-known candidates. Other bodies do not commonly apply canvassing restrictions to their elections. Furthermore, with the growth of internet use, restrictions on canvassing have become increasingly hard to enforce. The Council feels that the electorate is capable of assessing the merits of candidates and that excessive or negative campaigning is unlikely to advance the cause of those who indulge in it. As a result, the Council has decided that the former restrictions on canvassing should not apply to candidates for election to the Council.

The Society wishes to inform members that it has not provided pharmacists’ personal data for this mailing. The use of the Society’s membership data is restricted in line with the requirements of data protection legislation and the Society always takes a robust approach to the protection of its data from unauthorised use.