List of presidents of Co-operative Congress

The President of Co-operative Congress has been a prominent position in the British co-operative movement. Co-operative Congress is the national conference for the movement.

Beginning with the first modern Congress in 1869, a Congress President was elected to preside over the event: to begin with, a President was elected for each day of Congress,[1] but from 1896 a single President was elected for the whole event.[2] Being president was considered the highest honour in the UK Co-operative Movement,[3] with societies nominating individuals for the position in recognition of their contribution to the movement.[4][1] The President was presented with a commemorative medal, and gave a keynote address to the conference.[4]

The Congress voted to abolish the position of President in 2007, with Alan Gill (former Chief Executive of Leeds Co-operative Society) being the last to serve in the position.[5]

  1. ^ a b Co-operative Congress, 2005, archived from the original on 3 October 2006, retrieved 18 October 2007
  2. ^ Congress Presidents 1869-2002 (PDF), February 2002, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2008, retrieved 18 October 2007
  3. ^ Alan Middleton, February 2007, archived from the original on 6 April 2005, retrieved 18 October 2007
  4. ^ a b Congress President’s Speech, 22 May 2006, archived from the original on 21 June 2006, retrieved 18 October 2007
  5. ^ It's not really news, 27 July 2007, retrieved 18 October 2007