Jump to content

National Farmers' Union of England and Wales

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

National Farmers' Union
AbbreviationNFU
Founded1908; 116 years ago (1908)
TypeEmployer association
HeadquartersAgriculture House, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England, CV8 2TZ
Location
Members
45,000 farming and growing businesses[1]
President
Minette Batters
Deputy President
Tom Bradshaw
Vice President
David Exwood
Director General
Terry Jones
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) is an employer association and trade association for farming and growing businesses within England and Wales.

History[edit]

On 10 December 1908, a meeting was held in an ante-room at the Smithfield Show to discuss whether a national organisation should be formed to represent the interests of farmers. The meeting resulted in the formation of the National Farmers' Union.

The first President, Colin Campbell, worked to get new branches off the ground, encourage membership and establish the NFU's credibility with Government, at a time when farming was going through the longest and deepest depression in its history, as imports of cheap grain and frozen meat flooded in from abroad.

At the 1918 general election, the association ran six candidates, none of whom were elected. In 1922, it sponsored three unsuccessful candidates under its own name, and four successful Conservative Party candidates. It again sponsored Conservative candidates in 1923 and 1935, but has not done so since.[2]

The NFU is registered as an association of employers under the 1974 Trade Union and Labour Relations Act. In 2000 it founded Assured Food Standards which administers the Red Tractor food quality mark.

In 2013, during the so-called "Bonfire of the quangos" by the Cameron–Clegg government, the NFU lobbied in supported the abolishment of the Agricultural Wages Board,[3][4] the governmental body which had been responsible for regulating farm workers wages.[5] In the same year, the NFU campaigned against the existance of any cap on subsidies that farmers could recieve.[3][6]

In 2016, the Ethical Consumer Research Association published a report Understanding the NFU - an English Agribusiness Lobby Group describing the NFU as promoting policies that benefit big agribusinesses at the expense of farm workers pay and conditions, the environment, and animal welfare.[7]

The NFU elected its first female president, Minette Batters, in 2018.[8]

Function[edit]

NFU stand at the Devon County Show

The NFU proclaim themselves as 'The Voice of British Farming'[citation needed], the NFU states that it "champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its Farmer and Grower members."[9]

It negotiates with the government and national organisations on behalf of English and Welsh member farmers.[citation needed]

Structure[edit]

The NFU is governed by its Constitution and Rules. Under the Constitution and Rules the NFU shall maintain a number of bodies, which are responsible for the Governance of the NFU. These include NFU Council, Governance Board, Policy Board, National Commodity Boards, Regional Commodity Boards, an Audit and Remuneration Committee and Legal Board and Regional Boards.[10]

The NFU has an office in Brussels, Belgium to represent the interests of British farmers to the European Union.

The NFU is closely associated with the insurance mutual company NFU Mutual, which is also based in Warwickshire.

NFU Cymru is based at the Royal Welsh Showground in Builth Wells.

Election results[edit]

1918 general election[edit]

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position[2]
Barnard Castle Octavius Monkhouse 1,274 10.0 4
East Norfolk William Benjamin Taylor 1,926 12.3 3
Hertford Edmund Broughton Barnard 7,158 38.8 2
Leominster Ernest Wilfred Langford 2,870 17.4 3
Ormskirk Stephen Hirst 4,989 28.3 3
Richmond (Yorkshire) William Parlour 4,907 33.2 2

Barnard was also sponsored by the National Party.

1922 general election[edit]

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position[2]
Carmarthen Daniel Johns 4,775 15.9 3
Howdenshire H. J. Winn 7,021 39.5 2
Leominster Ernest Shepperson 10,798 53.1 1
Ormskirk Francis Blundell 11,921 58.7 1
Rutland and Stamford E. Clark 4,471 20.3 3
Stone Joseph Lamb 7,742 38.3 1
Wells Robert Bruford 10,210 47.7 1

Blundell, Bruford, Lamb and Shepperson stood for the Conservative Party.

1923 general election[edit]

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position[2]
Leominster Ernest Shepperson 11,582 57.3 1
Ormskirk Francis Blundell 10,598 53.0 1
Stone Joseph Lamb 10,001 50.8 1
Wells Robert Bruford 9,909 44.2 2

All candidates stood for the Conservative Party.

1924 general election[edit]

Constituency Candidate Votes % Position[2]
Leominster Ernest Shepperson 13,237 52.5 1
Stone Joseph Lamb 12,856 57.3 1

Both candidates stood for the Conservative Party.

1935 general election[edit]

Two candidates were sponsored and elected for the Conservative Party.

Archives[edit]

The archives of the NFU are deposited with the Rural History Centre at Reading University.[11]

Arms[edit]

Coat of arms of National Farmers' Union of England and Wales
Notes
Granted 9 September 1946 [12]
Crest
On a wreath of the colours a scythe and sceptre in saltire Or.
Escutcheon
Vert a chevron Ermine between in dexter chief a hull's head and in sinister chief a ram's head caboshed and in base three ears of wheat banded all Or.
Motto
Labore Agricolae Floreat Civitas

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Farmers' Union of England and Wales.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Find out about the NFU". www.nfuonline.com. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Craig, F. W. S. (1975). Minor Parties in British By-elections, 1885-1974. London: Macmillan Press. p. 56.
  3. ^ a b Monbiot, George (8 July 2013). "The National Farmers' Union secures so much public cash yet gives nothing back". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  4. ^ "MPs urged to continue support on AWB abolition". www.nfuonline.com. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Labour calls for Aricultural Wages Board not to be abolished". BBC News. 23 April 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  6. ^ "Grain sampling at harvest – getting it right". www.nfuonline.com. 17 November 2022. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ Harrison, Rob; Berry, Hannah; Strange, Ruth (2016). "Understanding the NFU - an English Agribusiness Lobby-group" (PDF). www.ethicalconsumer.org. Ethical Consumer Research Association.
  8. ^ "NFU elects first female president". BBC News. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  9. ^ "About Us". NFU. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  10. ^ "NFU Democratic Structure". NFUonline. NFU. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  11. ^ Chris Cook, The Routledge Guide to British Political Archives: Sources Since 1945 (Routledge: 2006), p. 345.
  12. ^ "National Farmers' Union". Heraldry of the World. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Farmers%27_Union_of_England_and_Wales&oldid=1231122553"