Almost two years since he was named as the successor to Ed Warner as chairman of UK Athletics, Bowker - whose plans involve merging the body with England Athletics - would appear to have only a tenuous hold on his position after a crucial UK members' council meeting and annual general meeting showed a lack of confidence in his leadership.

An immediate vote was blocked due to a rule that says 28 days' notice must be given, but Bowker could resign before then due to the clear opposition he faces from home country athletics federations in the UK.

Bowker has been the subject of intense speculation in recent months - with his position described as untenable in the national press.

On the eve of the members' meeting, England Athletics told Athletics Weekly: "England Athletics and UK Athletics will not be merging and we will continue to work together, alongside the other home countries, to create a high-level long-term UK wide strategy that supports and aligns to our respective roles and responsibilities within our sport.

"England Athletics is currently working to deliver our own strategy, 'Athletics and Running: for everyone, forever', which we developed following consultation with our members. 

"We have reduced annual dependency on Government funding to below 30 per cent, and have increased our own income streams through membership, road race licensing, event revenues and through partnership working, including commercial partnerships."

"We already work closely with UK Athletics, sharing functions such as office accommodation, payroll, some IT functions, procurement and welfare where efficiencies can be delivered, and look forward to working hard to identify other opportunities to work together to benefit our members and partners. 

"We will continue to work to identify if there are further efficiencies can be attained through joint working."

Niels de Vos, the chief executive of the governing body, resigned in September and has not yet been replaced, although Nigel Holl has been acting as interim chief executive.