Members of the Board of Deputies go to the polls today to elect the leaders of British Jewry’s main representative organisation for the next three years.

For the first time since 1964, a sitting president, Marie van der Zyl, is facing a challenger – from Jonathan Neumann, representative of Shomrei Hadath Federation Synagogue in London.

After several hustings over the past 10 days, the two contenders had a final chance to persuade the 298 deputies eligible to vote at a session of questions and answers at the Board’s online meeting this morning.

While normally the result would have been announced at the end of today’s meeting, the digital voting system used this time will delay the declaration until Tuesday morning.

Mrs van der Zyl, only the second female president in the Board’s history, is bidding to become the first to secure a second term. She cites her track record over the past three years, including leading the Board’s fight against Labour antisemitism.

Mr Neumann has pledged to enhance democracy at the Board and offer “an inclusive and collegiate” approach that will increase the involvement of ordinary deputies in its work.

Five candidates are competing for the three vice-presidential posts: sitting vice-president Amanda Bowman, outgoing treasurer Stuart MacDonald, Gary Mond, Richard Cohen and David Mendoza-Wolfson.