Shropshire Star

Shropshire and Mid Wales voters go to polls in search for new police and crime commissioner

The people of Shropshire were going to the polls today to elect a new police and crime commissioner for West Mercia.

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Eight candidates are standing to succeed Bill Longmore, who is retiring from the £75,000-a-year post after a single term of office.

The winning candidate will be responsible for a budget of nearly £203 million for the coming year.

One of the challenges faced by the new commissioner will be to appoint a new chief constable to replace David Shaw, who is retiring in the summer, and also to consider whether the force should be looking to strengthen its ties with the neighbouring Warwickshire Force.

At the moment the two police forces operate a "strategic alliance", where back office functions are shared between the two forces.

The commissioner is also responsible for maintaining the standards of the police force and for holding senior officers to account.

The winning candidate will also be responsible for determining the levy which is paid as part of the council tax to cover policing costs.

Candidates from the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour will all be fighting the elections, along with the present deputy commissioner who will be standing as an independent.

Representatives from the Green Party and UK Independence Party will also be fighting the election.

Current PCC Christopher Salmon

Six candidates are up for Dyfed-Powys Police Police and Crime Commissioner. These are their pitches for your vote:

Edmund Davies, Independent: "An elected police commissioner should not be influenced by party politics in carrying out their duties and responsibilities. The controversy surrounding the police helicopter, the handling of closures of police stations and the removal of several CCTV cameras are serious matters. I can give my assurance that these concerns will be addressed."

Dafydd Llywelyn, Plaid Cymru: "I am an experienced and knowledgeable candidate currently lecturing in criminology at Aberystwyth University and having served as the head analyst for Dyfed-Powys Police for 13 years. I am truly committed to working tirelessly for all communities within Dyfed and Powys. I pledge to save money by scrapping the deputy commissioner role, a role afforded a salary of £50,000."

Kevin Madge, Labour: "My promise is to provide a police service that will be fair, honest and reliable. As your commissioner, I would prioritise frontline policing and put victims first. I want to concentrate on issues that matter to the people of Dyfed-Powys."

Des Parkinson, Ukip: "The quality of the serving police officers, PCSOs and civilian staff in the force is excellent. They are doing the best they can under increasingly difficult circumstances. If elected, I will give them the tools and the policies to make the force reach its full potential again. I would stop closing or threatening to close police stations and make policing more visible."

Christopher Salmon, Conservative: "Since my election in 2012, crime and anti-social behaviour are down 13 per cent, more than anywhere else in Wales. I have delivered six per cent more police officers and reduced costs to households by five per cent. I will lead the fight against fraud and cyber-crime and focus on road safety."

Richard Church, Liberal Democrats: "The police commissioner needs to rebuild the morale of our force after a series of critical inspections coupled with an upturn in crime figures. The commissioner needs to show leadership by taking some responsibility when things go wrong and to end the denial of poor performance reports."

The election will use the supplementary vote system, where voters are asked to mark the ballot paper with their first and second choices of candidate.

If no candidate gets a majority of first preference votes, the top two candidates go on to a second round in which second preference votes of the eliminated candidates will be allocated to them to produce a winner.

The post of commissioner was created in 2012 to replace the old police authorities, which were made up of local councillors from across the force area.

The first elections were held in November 2012, when 41 commissioners were elected across England and Wales.

There was no election in London as the powers were already devolved to the elected mayor.

This time there will be no election in Greater Manchester as the region is to get its own elected mayor next year. In the meantime Tony Lloyd will remain as interim commissioner.

The first incumbents were elected to serve a three-and-a-half-year term, although this year's winning candidates will remain in post for four years.

Bill Longmore, a retired police superintendent who served with the Staffordshire force, surprised many when he won as an independent in November 2012, fighting off challenges from the major parties. Nationally, the Conservatives saw 16 of their candidates elected as commissioner last time around, ahead of Labour which won 13 of the elections.

Mr Longmore was one of 11 independents to be elected, as well as retired police chief Kevin Hurley who won under the Zero Tolerance Policing ex-Chief banner.

Former deputy prime minister John Prescott was one of the more high-profile candidates when he stood in Humberside, but he was defeated by Conservative Matthew Grove.

The first elections were marred by a record low turnout, with just 15.1 per cent of the eligible electorate bothering to vote nationally. In West Mercia, the figure was even lower, at just 14.5 per cent.

A lack of information, both on the election itself and from the candidates, and the November timing of the election were cited as reasons for the low turnout.

The government is hoping that the increased profile of the post, coupled with municipal elections in many parts of the country on the same day, will see a better turnout this time.

Last year the UK government began a consultation into proposals which would bring England's fire services under the control of PCCs.

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