Turmoil at RSPCA as ex-MP and anti-hunt campaigner Ballard becomes chief

The RSPCA was beset with in-fighting yesterday in response to the appointment of the former Liberal Democrat MP and passionate anti-hunting campaigner Jackie Ballard as its director general.

One member of the animal charity resigned and there were threats of more to come, adding to motions of no confidence and demands that lawyers be called in over the selection for the post.

Ms Ballard, a 49-year-old former social worker who blames the hunting lobby for forcing her out of her seat in Taunton, beat three others including Steve Marshall, the former chief executive of Railtrack, for the £90,000-a-year job. She was offered the post after the charity's 24-member council interviewed the candidates on the weekend.

Ms Ballard said: "I have had a lifelong commitment to animal welfare. I look forward to bringing about real improvement to the lives of thousands of animals and my experience and expertise in campaigning will give the RSPCA an even stronger edge."

One of the accusations made against Ms Ballard was her supposed lack of financial experience. The RSPCA, based near Horsham, West Sussex, has annual running costs of £78m and is trying to cut £2m from its budget.

Jacquie Denham, a business adviser who resigned in response to the appointment and declared she was cutting the RSPCA out of her will, said: "Jackie Ballard has no experience of running this size of organisation. She was asked the difference between cash-flow forecasts and management accounts and she said she had never heard of the terms. Steve Marshall stood head and shoulders above the other candidates. The whole process was flawed."

But the RSPCA insistedcriticism of Ms Ballard's financial expertise was misplaced. It pointed out that as deputy leader of Somerset County Council in 1993 she "managed a revenue budget of £500m and saw the council through a period of budget cuts and was able to prioritise and take difficult decisions".

Also standing for the post were Michelle Thew, the head of the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, and the retired major general Michael Laurie, formerly of the Intelligence Corps. Ms Ballard will take over next month from the former major general Peter Davies, who has been in the job since 1991.

A Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 until 2001, Ms Ballard blamed her narrow defeat in the 2001 general election on "a deliberate campaign of intimidation" by stag hunters determined to get rid of her because of her opposition to blood sports.

As an MP, she co-sponsoredBills to ban hunting and fur farming. She has also campaigned for a ban on battery farming, and is a member of Friends of the Earth.