The Stage

Representative Group triumphs at Equity elections

Published Wednesday 23 July 2008 at 17:10 by Alistair Smith

Equity’s Representative Group faction has dominated this year’s council elections, winning 31 out of a possible 47 seats.

As well as its candidate Graham Hamilton winning the presidential election - narrowly defeating incumbent independent Harry Landis - it has secured a further 30 seats on the council.

Opposition group Members4Members suffered heavy losses, with its number of councillors falling from 15 to nine. The most high profile casualty was Brenda Marsh, who lost out on one of six seats in the Variety, Light Entertainment & Circus category. However, former Equity vice president Dave Eager was re-elected in the same category, having lost his seat at the last elections.

There are also set to be some new faces on the council, with five people who have never served before being elected. These include Ben Delfont and Joseph Kloska on the main list, the latter, still in his twenties, having stood as an independent.

Samuel West received the most votes out of all the candidates, followed by failed presidential candidate Landis, who - on the council voting - actually recorded 335 more votes than Hamilton, despite losing to him in the presidential vote.

Six independents, including West and Landis, were elected - up two from the last election in 2006.

The voting level was also up significantly from last election’s record low - 3,307 ballot papers were returned, representing 9% of the membership, an increase from last year’s showing of only 7%. One seat on the council has not been filled. Only one candidate stood for two places on the Chorus & Ensemble seats, meaning that the remaining seat has been left vacant.

The results in full were:

* R - Representative Group

• M - Members4Members

• I - Independent

General List - 17 elected, listed in order of number of votes received:

• Samuel West (I)
• Harry Landis (I)
• Jean Rogers (R)
• Malcolm Sinclair (R)
• Ben Delfont (R)
• Graham Hamilton (R) - elected president
• Jonathan Cecil (R)
• Frederick Pyne (R)
• Ian Barritt (R)
• Robin Browne (R)
• Nicholas Smith (M)
• Nicholas Courtney (R)
• Joseph Kloska (I)
• Corinna Marlowe (R)
• Frank Williams (M)
• Barbara Hyslop (M)
• Jo Cameron Brown (R)
• Peter Kosta (R)

Afro-Asian Artists:

• Mark Holden (R)

Audio Artists:

• Sheila Mitchell (I)

Choreographers:

• Paul Read (R)

Chorus & Ensemble:

• Tom Emlyn Williams (R)

Dance:

• Natasha Gerson (R)

Opera:

• Bryn Evans (R)

Singers:

• Dennis S Ray (R)

Stage Management:

• Fiona Mott (R)

Stunt Performers:

• Ricky Ash (R)

Theatre Designers:

• David Cockayne (R)

Theatre Directors:

• John Carnegie (R)

TIE & Young People’s Theatre:

• Caryl Griffith (M)

Variety, Light Entertainment & Circus - six elected, listed in order of number of votes received:

• Annie Bright (R)
• Tina May (R)
• Mary Lane (R)
• Rhubarb the Clown (R)
• Dave Eager (M)
• Chris Barltrop (R)

Walk -Ons - two elected, listed in order of number of votes received:

• Vicky Allan (M)
• Clive Hurst (I)

London Area:

• Alan Thompson (M)

Midlands Area:

• Sally Treble (M)

Northern Area:

• Yvonne Joseph (M)

Northern Ireland:

• Maggie Cronin (R)

Scotland:

• Kate McCall (I)

South East Area:

• Michael Branwell (R)

South West Area:

• Nicky Diprose (R)

Wales:

• Michael Cunningham (R)