Only Chess Player Can Write Like This...

2) Rupert Jones (Leeds) was elected, albeit as an interim measure (he will think!), to the post of General Secretary, in absentio, or in absentia, depending in whether your style of Latin prefers use of a participle in an elliptic “time when” expression or else simply a noun - both mean he wasn’t there at the time! (He had acquiesced to this in advance.)