British Cycling's Julie Harrington says next presidential vote must be contested

Having already served four one-year terms as president, Howden was given another three years at British Cycling's annual general meeting in Crewe on Saturday after the governing body's governance rules were changed this summer.

The Yorkshire-based businessman stepped down as the chairman of British Cycling's board in February after his handling of Jess Varnish's complaint against former technical director Shane Sutton was widely criticised.

Those governance changes mean the president no longer has a position on the board but Howden's decision to stand for another term was described by one British Cycling insider as "not helpful" last week, particularly after his successor as chairman, Jonathan Browning, had decided not to apply for the job again.

The source told Press Association Sport that Howden's continuing presence, albeit in a largely ceremonial role, would hurt British Cycling's efforts to project a new image to the world and could be a stick for the sport's critics to beat it with.

Speaking to PA Sport on Monday, however, Harrington said she had no issues with Howden's desire to continue to represent British Cycling's membership but would have preferred it if he had faced a challenge.

"What is a problem is that it was uncontested, and even Bob acknowledged that in his acceptance speech," said Harrington.

"I noticed a lot more diversity in the room at the AGM - there were more women there and it was younger - but we have to work hard now to make sure the next time we meet to elect a president it is not uncontested."

Saturday's AGM did, though, see Howden, Tony Barry, Colin Docker, Charlie Jackson and Richard Kennedy all formally leave the board, which means six of those who presided over the Varnish saga have now departed, with former chief executive Ian Drake quitting earlier this year.

Wendy Cull, Graham Elliott, George Gilbert and Richard Lodge were elected as directors in the first national council since the governance changes were approved in July, while Alasdair Maclennan, Nick Smith and former chief executive Peter King were appointed to represent the Scottish, Welsh and English regions respectively.

These changes mean that British Cycling now has four female directors - Cull, Harrington, Marion Lauder and Alex Russell - and therefore meets the government target of at least 30 per cent representation of each gender.