The presidential election took place during the society's annual assembly meeting today (July 18).

Mr Soni previously held the position from 2014 until his surprise departure last year, when he was replaced by fellow former president Martin Astbury.

In an RPS statement, Mr Soni said he is “delighted and humbled to have been elected”.

“I would like to pay tribute to Martin in his role as president over the last year,” he said. “I know exactly how much energy and judgement the role requires, and I am grateful for the work and long hours Martin has given to RPS in the last 12 months.

“As president, I will ensure I take every opportunity to promote our great profession, to help people to understand why we are such an important part of integrating care. I will support the [RPS national] boards as they deliver their plans to increase the involvement of pharmacists within multidisciplinary team.

“As a community pharmacist, I absolutely believe that every pharmacy must have a pharmacist present, but I would go much further than this,” he added.

“I believe wherever there are medicines, the profession should have a presence; in community pharmacies, hospitals, GP surgeries, universities and the pharmaceutical industry, pharmacists [have] a growing range of opportunities to have a positive impact on healthcare.”

The Twitter reaction

@ashsoni0607 Congratulations now the real work begins.. https://t.co/MeQWr32vFg

— sai pharmacy (@sai_pharmacy) July 18, 2017

Yes! I have been waiting weeks for this announcement :) Welcome back @ashsoni0607 we missed you! https://t.co/oVkWAAW8RF

— Natalie Harris (@Natkat76) July 18, 2017

Congratulations @ashsoni0607 !

— Helen Gordon (@MrsHGordon) July 18, 2017

Will the president commit to supporting stance to oppose remote supervision and ensure we have a pharmacist in every pharmacy?

— PDA Union (@the_pda_union) July 18, 2017