Sir Hugh Robertson officially appointed vice-chairman of British Olympic Association

Sir Hugh Robertson (second left) has been officially appointed as vice-chairman of the British Olympic Association today ©BOA

Former Sports Minister Sir Hugh Robertson has been officially appointed as vice-chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA) at the organisation’s General Assembly in Stockport, it has been announced.

Robertson was the only candidate for the role and was put forward by BOA chairman and recently-elected International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Sebastian Coe.

He replaces the outgoing David Hemery, gold medallist in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, who had served the maximum term in the role and opted to retire the vice-chairmanship last month.

Robertson, who was involved with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in his role as Minister for Sport and the Olympics, received the 51 per cent majority he needed to secure the position, which was the only hurdle in his way after he stood unopposed.

“The BOA is an organisation that puts the athletes at the forefront of everything it does and this is therefore a fantastic opportunity for me to build on the success of London 2012 and help the BOA deliver at future Olympic Games,” Robertson, a former Member of Parliament for Faversham and Mid Kent and who served as Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs until July 2014, said.

The 52-year-old could now be set to take over when Coe steps down as chairman in October 2016.

A number of other elections were also held during the General Assembly as chairman of British Rowing Annamarie Phelps, who sat on the BOA Athletes’ Commission between 1994 and 1998, and President and Chair of British Triathlon Ian Howard were both appointed to the Board for the first time.

The duo replaced British Swimming chief executive David Sparkes and Niels de Vos, chief executive of UK Athletics.

BOA chairman and IAAF President Sebastian Coe has heralded the new appointments to the BOA Board ©Getty Images

British Curling Director Hew Chalmers, who is also a director on the board of the World Curling Federation, has been re-elected for another term and the trio join Richard Leman, the President of Great Britain hockey who was reportedly considering standing for the vice-chairmanship before deciding against running due to Coe's backing of Robertson and Sarah Treseder, chief executive of the Royal Yachting Association, on the Board.

“I am delighted to welcome the new vice-chair Hugh Robertson to the BOA Board along with the sport representatives Annamarie Phelps, Hew Chalmers and Ian Howard,” Coe said.

“I would also like to thank outgoing members, especially David Hemery whose term as vice-chair comes to an end, for their valuable guidance and support during my time with the BOA.”

As well as the various appointments, discussions were also held concerning Britain's preparations for the 2016 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, as well as Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020.