l Dr Hamish Meldrum was born in Edinburgh in 1948.

He lived in Aberdeen for seven years, before moving to Stirling. He attended Stirling High School and then studied medicine at Edinburgh University.

l He went into general medicine and, after a job at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary fell through, became a senior house officer and registrar in Torbay, Devon. He moved into general practice in the late 1970s, joining a surgery in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, where he stayed for more than 30 years.

l Dr Meldrum first became involved with the BMA after joining the local medical committee for East Yorkshire. In 1991, he joined the BMA GPs' Committee, following changes made to GP contracts by the then health secretary Ken Clarke.

l He was part of the GP committee that negotiated the new GP contract in 2004.

l Dr Meldrum has been chairman of the BMA Council since June 2007.