MEMBERS of the Co-operative Group are being urged to cast their votes on matters including who serves on the company’s board.

For the first time, the election will give members a direct say in how the £9 billion business operates.

More than 375,000 voting packs will land with members in Swindon and across the South West, giving them the opportunity to vote on motions put forward to the annual general meeting and vote for members who will sit on the board, as well as for members standing for the group’s newly formed members’ council.

Previously, members could only vote for local representatives and just a few hundred people had a say in some of the most important decisions.

Now, after major reforms were passed last year, members can vote directly for representatives at a national level and on motions to be put to the AGM on Saturday, May 16.

Allan Leighton, chairman of The Co-operative Group, said: “We are committed to delivering real democracy for 8.4 million members, so that their interests can be truly served and respected in the boardroom.

“As our recent financial results illustrated, the group is again moving forwards in the right direction and I’m reaching out to our members to help us maintain this momentum, by using their vote in the boardroom and avoid the catastrophic events of our recent past.”