Rob Butcher will not stand for re-election as Welsh Rugby Union chair, it has been announced.
The news comes after Butcher's appeal to clubs to allow the WRU Board the option of appointing an independent chair was not passed at the union's Annual General Meeting on Sunday, with the special resolution failing despite 65.4% of clubs voting in favour.
Having completed his current term as chair, Butcher has also decided not to re-apply for a Board role when a new election takes place this month. However, he will remain on the WRU Council.
A statement from the WRU says that Butcher officially withdrew from the running in a letter submitted before Sunday's AGM. Afterwards, Butcher admitted his disappointment with the result, but has insisted that his decision to step down was made before the AGM and the result of the resolution.
“My reasons for stepping down are personal and they will remain private to me and my family, but I hope members will understand that I have taken great care to get the timing right for this announcement, so that the outcome of the WRU’s 2022 AGM was not to be affected,” said Butcher.
“The role of chair of the WRU is both a demanding and an extremely high profile position, it is a role that member clubs care deeply about and that anyone engaged in Welsh rugby throughout the land has a vested interest in.
“One of the special resolutions we were proposing last weekend was especially sensitive in terms of the Board’s potential ability to appoint a chair from outside of the current closed group of eight national and district council members.
“Unfortunately this resolution was not passed and I have expressed my absolute disappointment at this fact but, on reflection, with 66% of votes in the room in favour of modernising our governance structure in this way, that is an indication that members may be open to change in the future.
“I would implore my successor and those who remain on the WRU Board to continue on this journey, we are certainly going in the right direction and I am confident members will be receptive to change if we can get the proposition right.”
Butcher was first installed as chairman in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic in November 2020, before being re-elected last November. He has already been re-appointed to the WRU Council as a district council member for the next two years, but he will step back from chairing the Community Game Board.
The new chair of the CGB, to be appointed at its next meeting, will automatically be appointed to the WRU Board, in place of Butcher. One of the special resolutions which was voted through at the AGM means that this position of CGB chair can now be contested by any District or National Council member. Previously only District Council members could stand.
Once the make-up of the new WRU Board has been confirmed, after elections at Wednesday’s Council meeting, a Board meeting will be called at which the next WRU chair will be chosen.
“My message to my successor will be to grasp this opportunity with both hands,” said Butcher, who called the opportunity a "huge honour and a privilege".
“I hope I have set in train a direction of travel in terms of governance modernisation which will now be followed.
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“I firmly believe member clubs want what is best for Welsh rugby and it is incumbent upon us as Board and Council to set the right strategic direction, but we must also bring members with us and that is the challenge ahead."
Speaking about Butcher's decision not to stand again, WRU CEO Steve Phillips, who was appointed by Butcher, said: “Rob has been tireless in his unselfish work on governance modernisation and history will show that he has taken us much further forward on this subject than is currently obvious and his contribution has been much broader and profound.
“He spoke very eloquently at the AGM and it was a measure of the man that so many member clubs understood what he was trying to achieve and voted in favour of the resolution the Board was proposing.
“It has been a tough ask to explain that we need to evolve and modernise our structures, but Rob has shown absolute integrity, empathy and humanity at every turn and been able to reach out to influence hearts and minds.
“I am very disappointed on both a personal and professional level to see him stand down as chair and I will miss our debates on many subjects. But of course I fully respect his reasons for doing so .
“On an extremely positive note I am pleased to be able to say that the breadth of experience he brings, and has gained during his time as chair, will be retained within Welsh rugby by virtue of his continued position on the WRU Council.”
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