Lade Smith of Nigerian descent elected president of UK Royal College of Psychiatrists

Lade Smith has been elected as the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom.

Smith’s victory was announced in a statement on Wednesday after she secured a turnout of 39.4 percent in a ballot — the highest in the college presidential election since at least 1996.

On first preference votes, she secured 2,720 votes to defeat Kate Lovett and Russell Razzaque, who turned in 1,963 and 1,678 votes, respectively.

After Razzaque was eliminated in the second round, Smith retained her lead by 3,443 votes, while Lovett had a total of 2,526 votes.

Smith will become the 18th president of the college and will replace Adrian James, the current president, on July 11.

Reacting to the appointment, Smith said she was grateful to be given the opportunity to lead the institute, adding that she would work to ensure fairness and tackle inequality.

“I am thrilled to have been elected as the new president of the RCPsych, especially on such a high turnout,” she said.

“As RCPsych president, I will nurture and support psychiatrists – so we can retain and strengthen our workforce. I will address the treatment gap – and fight for resources to deliver therapeutic care. I will also ensure fairness for all – and tackle inequality for patients and for staff.

“Thank you to all those members who voted, whether for me or for one of the other candidates. I will work tirelessly to represent the whole membership.”

Born in the UK to Nigerian parents, Smith said she was subject to name-calling, had doubts about her intelligence, and questioned whether she could be a medical student.

While recounting her experience of racism to the British Medical Association in an interview, she said she considered asking for ‘Dr’ to be removed from her credit card to clear supermarket checkouts quickly.

“They look at you, look at the card, look at you, look at the card. It goes on for ages,” she had said.

Smith was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the highest ranking order of the British empire award, during the Queen’s birthday honours in June 2019 for services to forensic intensive psychiatric care.

In November 2019, she was awarded ‘Psychiatrist of the Year’ by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.