Voting has now opened for the RSS Council elections, with members able to vote online until Wednesday 25 October. As the main governing body of the Society, the Council manages funding, investments, property and activities.
RSS president Andrew Garrett has called upon members to vote, commenting : “The Society’s trustees, its Council members, play a vital role in ensuring the good management of the Society: making sure we’re working towards our strategic goals, fulfilling our charter and representing our work to the wider statistical community and the public.”
Four voluntary vacancies are to be filled from a shortlist of six candidates, with the selected council members serving from January 2024 until the end of 2027. This year’s selection of candidates has a diverse range of experience, each highlighting specific concerns in their governance priorities for the next four years should they be elected.
The candidates
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Timandra Harkness, freelance writer, broadcaster and speaker, and a graduate statistician with the RSS
“Good statistical thinking needs to be put at the centre of data collection and analysis, both in practice and in the public mind.”
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Neil Spencer, Professor of Applied Statistics and Director of the Statistical Services and Consultancy, University of Hertfordshire
“I will encourage the development of activities which break down subject barriers, avoid silos, and enable greater sharing of members’ knowledge and experiences.”
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Benjamin Guedj, Associate Professor, UCL, and a machine-learning researcher and director with Inria and the Alan Turing Institute
“I strongly support the use of data and statistics as the backbone to any decision-making process, for the good of the public.”
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Rhiannon Edge, Associate Director of Statistical Science, AstraZeneca
“The RSS is becoming increasingly relevant, it can quickly bring statisticians together to act in the public’s best interest.”
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Louisa Nolan, Head of Data Science, Public Health Wales
“Underpinning our societal response to [global challenges] should be good data, sound analysis, robust ethics and standards, and confident, professional practitioners.”
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Waleed Backler, Principal Data Advisor, Attorney General’s office
“I will help shape the Society’s strategy to ensure its continued success, investing smartly in our activities to deepen our impact and to make the Society relevant to broader groups.
Read more about the candidates and the voting process .
*Correction: although Andrew mentions five vacancies, the fifth vacancy was only created upon the appointment of Tricia Dodd as the Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Due to the timing of the appointment, it wasn’t possible to add additional candidates to the ballot. Therefore, the Council will seek to fill the casual vacancy in the 2024/25 Council election.