Posted on 23/06/2012 by samchapman
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Posted on 22/06/2012 by samchapman
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Candidate Statement of Julie Iles

Posted on 21/06/2012 by samchapman

Julie Iles is seeking the Conservative nomination to be the Police and Crime Commissioner in Surrey. If you are intending to stand to be Police and Crime Commissioner where you live, you can submit your own Candidate Statement, so get in touch at Editor@TopOfTheCops.com. Others are on the way, and we are looking for 400 words, a photo of you that you have rights to, and preferably an imprint, which will be needed for the formal election period later this year.

Police and Crime Commissioners are fundamental to the Governments’ programme of decentralisation and making the police accountable to the local people. As a candidate for Commissioner I will engage with the public to ensure that I have a strong mandate to drive the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour. Given the broader remit to ensure community safety, I will have an agenda of protection and prevention as well as first class, front line policing.

I am an active member of our community in Surrey. I have been a magistrate for ten years, I chair the SE Surrey youth panel and serve on the Youth Justice Advisory Committee. I am also on the Surrey Crimestoppers Committee. This gives me a genuine experience of the criminal issues across Surrey and the effect they have on peoples’ lives.

My commitment to public service and engaging with peoples’ views extends in to my work for the Conservative Party. I am Deputy Chairman (Political) for Mole Valley and Southern Regional Chairman for the Conservative Women’s Organisation.

I already have direct involvement in partnership working within the Youth Justice agenda and this coupled with a successful track record in business gives me the relevant skills to ensure that we deliver an efficient and effective police force.

I have put myself forward to be the PCC for Surrey because I care about our community and I care about this flagship Conservative policy. I believe that every citizen has a right to feel safe on our streets and a right to feel safe in their home. The public need a Commissioner who is available to them, someone who will prioritise police targets that reflect the publics’ concerns and someone who is dedicated to the task.

I have the right experience for this job and I will focus on three areas: – cutting crime, cutting cost and challenging any culture of complacency. I want to make Surrey an even safer place to live. I will fight to ensure the safety of local people and their homes. I will ensure fair treatment for decent, law-abiding citizens. I, like our Conservative Party, will always be on the side of those who pay their taxes, save for the future and obey the laws of the land.

 

Posted in Candidate Statements, Conservatives | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Tickets Please?

Posted on 19/06/2012 by samchapman

Yvonne Mosquito has had an interesting week so far.

On Sunday the Birmingham Councillor would have learnt that her bid to become Labour’s candidate for West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner had been unsuccessful, and that Bob Jones, who incidentally had been far-sighted enough to provide TopOfTheCops with our first ever Candidate Statement, had won the nomination.

On Monday, the rest of the world found this out.

This morning (Tuesday) she announced “I’m delighted to be running with Lab candidate Bob Jones as Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mids“

Hmmm. Didn’t take long to bury that hatchet, presumably in Mike Olley, who may still be fuming about Labour denying him the opportunity of being on the party’s internal ballot paper.

And so we have the first PCC American-style ‘ticket’. Forget Obama/Biden, or McCain/Palin or Romney/whoever – welcome to the world of Jones/Mosquito. Is this how business will be done?

Of course, the Americans actually have an office of Vice-President. It’s in the Constitution and everything. On this side of the pond PCCs are allowed to have a Deputy, but they don’t actually have to have one, and obviously Deputies cost money, that has to be both taken from the taxpayer and spent on the Deputy rather than on other policing purposes. Will the public find the provision of a salary for another politician to be acceptable? Is jobs for the girls really any better than jobs for the boys?

In truth this will probably need to come not from the core policing budget but the budget of what up till now has been known as the Police Authority, so what staff reductions or tax increases are being contemplated to make way for that?

In America the Vice-President is elected. Their name is literally on the ticket, and voters vote for them as the Plan B every bit as much as they vote for the main candidate. This will not be the case for Cllr Mosquito. Only the candidate’s name will be on the ballot paper. What we have here is a promise to create at least one Deputy Commissioner post and nominate a certain person to it. It seems to offer that person a slice of the mandate, placing the Police and Crime Panel in an awkward position when the confirmation hearings take place.

The appointment to a position of Deputy Commissioner is, if I understand rightly, one of the few appointments of someone who is politically active that a Commissioner can make. Yet, just because they can be political does not mean that they must, and this action seems to suggest that a Deputy post will be like the Prime Minister appointing a Cabinet, or a Council leader appointing an Executive – something entirely subject to personal discretion, without the normal processes of applications, shortlists, interviews, and all the other equal treatment malarkey. Of course, even the PM or Council leader have checks on what they can do. Ministers need to have a seat in the Commons or the Lords, Council Executive Members need to be elected Councillors, and their appointments often need Council confirmation. Here we have none of that – just an appointment telegraphed 5 months in advance of being elected. Is that how it works?

Tickets are often balanced for a purpose. John McCain, a liberal Republican who many of his party had doubts about, chose Sarah Palin, a not-very-liberal Republican who those doubters could openly embrace. The Vice-Presidential spot is not a consolation prize for the runner-up, but an opportunity for someone to bring some electoral advantage to the table. There is already speculation on Twitter about Humberside. Can Lord Prescott overcome the rancour of the campaign, and tempt ex-police-chief Keith Hunter on board for all the kudos of expertise that might lend to his campaign among ordinary voters?

Finally, in my list of questions and issues that tickets raise, is the tacit admission of ‘I can’t do all this myself”. The Deputy Commissioner is not mainly there in case the Commissioner gets shot. They can have functions delegated to them. Will candidates be willing to go to the public with such an admission, especially facing candidates who are confident that they are quite enough, given all the advisors that come with the job anyway?

Time will tell.

 

Posted in Perspectives | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Labour Day

Posted on 18/06/2012 by samchapman

The results of the Labour selection process are here, but could be removed at any point, lack commentary and, in the party’s ongoing obsession with regions, are not in nice alphabetical order – so my version below is better!

By my reckoning 32,781 Labour party members voted in these elections. 12 of the 41 candidates were unopposed, and so won without a postal ballot. In 1 of these cases (Suffolk) a shortlisted candidate withdrew, producing an uncontested result. In other cases competing candidates were not allowed onto what became a shortlist of one.

The following points summarise the results for me:-

  • There are a fair few ex-MPs and ex-Ministers whose high profile will have helped them get elected.
  • Some of these high-profile figures had very close results. Lord Prescott won the Humberside nomination with 552 votes, only 94 votes ahead of a former policeman who had recently become politically active. Alun Michael won the South Wales nomination with 1,142 votes, only 82 votes ahead of another ex-cop. If senior figures can’t win Labour hearts with such established reputations it does not auger well if they are representing Labour outside of safe Labour territory – and Humberside is one such place.
  • The party has therefore chosen some high-profile politicians by a whisker, ahead of people with police knowledge and experience, exactly the opposite of what polling is telling us that voters want and expect in PCC candidates. Yet the high votes for relatively unknown ex-cops underlines the fact that this experience is valued by voters. Labour have ended up with a risky strategy, effectively chosen by a handful of Labour party members. It represents an opportunity for their opponents who have yet to select candidates.
  • The election featured online campaigning, emails, and use of Twitter, but to what effect? Paul Richards and Jon Harvey could hardly have had higher online political profiles, but still lost.
  • Some tell me that about half the Labour membership list don’t have email addresses, a problem in a place like Lancashire where, mid-election, Clive Grunshaw was ordered to apologise to his opponents for comments about them in a campaign leaflet. Their statements were emailed to party members, but it looks like half the membership could vote without knowing this fact, and the party is left with a candidate who they have found guilty of breaking the rules.
  • The election featured candidates seeking and winning union endorsements, with mailshots paid for by unions. Given the margins of victory in some cases this may have made a real difference in candidate selection. Some of these unions represent police staff. Was this money well spent by the unions, and what is the impact on democracy if it was?
  • Unless the November elections produce a Bradford West style upset, these internal elections (including the Conservative selections) were the real elections in about half to two-thirds of the available contests :- and in media terms no one was looking while they were going on.

Congratulations to all winning candidates. Commisserations to the rest. Now the fun begins.

 

Avon and Somerset

ASHFORD, Bob. 891 Elected

SAVAGE, John. 505

Bedfordshire

HEFFERNAN, Adrian 190

MARTINS, Oliver 511 Elected

Cambridgeshire

MURPHY, Ed 265 Elected

ROGERS, Ruth 241

Cheshire

CARTER, Steve 375

STOCKTON, John 471 Elected

Cleveland

BRASH, Jonathan 157

COPPINGER, Barry 523 Elected

Cumbria

BOADEN, Mike 190

LEONARD, Patrick 225 Elected

Derbyshire

CHARLES, Alan. 695 Elected

DHINDSA, Hardyal. 365

SALT, Kathryn. 133

Devon and Cornwall

CANAVAN, Patrick 312

WILLIAMS, Nicky 591 Elected

 

Dorset

ROGERS, Rachael Elected Unopposed

Durham

Round 1 2

DIXON, Bill 330 427

HOGG, Ron 423 536 Elected

THOMPSON, Peter 311

Dyfed Powys

GWYTHER, Christine Elected Unopposed

Essex

COOK, Val Morris 449 Elected

NEWELL, Jordan 355

Gloucestershire

DHANDA, Rupi Elected Unopposed

Greater Manchester

LLOYD, Tony Elected Unopposed

Gwent

SANDISON, Hamish 494 Elected

WORRAD, Joshua 306

Hampshire

HAGGER, Alan 335

RAYMENT, Jacqui 576 Elected

Hertfordshire

BATSON, Sherma Elected Unopposed

Humberside

HUNTER, Keith. 458

PRESCOTT, John. 552 Elected

Kent

BATES, Steve 241

YEO, Harriet 711 Elected


Lancashire

Round 1 2

ATKINSON, Mark 342

GRUNSHAW, Clive 820 966 Elected

MASTER, Ibby 532 663

Leicestershire

RUSSELL, Sarah Elected unopposed

Lincolnshire

DILKS, Phil. 218 Elected

GLEESON, Paul. 97

Merseyside

Round 1. 2.

KENNEDY, Jane. 895. 974

KILFOYLE, Peter. 745. 833

WEIGHTMAN, Bill 254

Norfolk

BURKE, Stephen 232

MORPHEW, Steve 337 Elected

Northumbria

BAIRD, Vera 1,921 Elected

FOSTER, Tom 635

North Wales

HANSON, Margaret 276

MICHAEL, Tal 548 Elected

North Yorkshire

POTTER, Ruth Elected Unopposed

Northamptonshire

BARRON, Lee. 212 Elected

CASEMAN-JONES, Mike. 176

Nottinghamshire

MOHAMMED, Adam. 841

TIPPING, Paddy. 892 Elected

South Wales

CANNON, Paul 1,058

MICHAEL, Alun 1,142 Elected

South Yorkshire

Round 1. 2. 3.
BILLINGS, Alan. 461. 592.
HUGHES, Med. 382.
WALAYAT, Kash. 622. 671. 861
WRIGHT, Shaun. 972. 1,116. 1,353 Elected

Staffordshire

GARNER, Joy 402 Elected

POULTER, Michael 351

Suffolk

BASHAM, Jane Elected Unopposed

Surrey

EVANS, Robert Elected Unopposed

Sussex

DANIEL, Godfrey 679 Elected

RICHARDS, Paul 554

Thames Valley

HARVEY, Jon 590

STARKEY, Tim 614 Elected

Warwickshire

EDWARDS, Claire 102

PLASKITT, James 291 Elected

West Mercia

MURPHY, Simon Elected Unopposed

West Midlands

JONES, Bob 1,580 Elected

MOSQUITO, Yvonne. 827

West Yorkshire

BURNS-WILLIAMSON, Mark Elected Unopposed

Wiltshire

MOODY, Clare Elected Unopposed

 

Posted in Labour, Perspectives, Selecting Candidates | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Blue Sunday

Posted on 17/06/2012 by samchapman

Councillor Craig McKinley, ex-Deputy-Leader of UKIP has been selected as the Conservative candidate for Kent PCC, where it is an open secret in advance of Monday’s announcement that he will face Labour’s Harriet Yeo.

In Hampshire, the Conservative shortlist was reduced to former MP Michael Mates (77!) and Local Councillor Donna Jones.

Richard Stratton is not one of the final three on the Conservative shortlist for Hertfordshire, but Peter Walker is through, with unnamed others, to the final stage for the Conservatives in North Yorkshire, as is Bernard Rix in Bedfordshire.

In Suffolk, the Conservative shortlist is down to David Card, Ray Herring and Tim Passmore. The successful candidate will face Jane Basham from Labour, after her shortlisted Labour rival withdrew from the race.

In Northamptonshire Adam Simmonds, a senior local government officer (who is now leaving his post in order to qualify to stand), has been chosen as the Conservative candidate, and will be up against Independent candidate, former Special Constable and supplier of ‘policewitness’ cameras, Matt Stockdale.

In Essex, Val Morris-Cook has been chosen as the Labour candidate. She will face Nicholas Alston from the Conservatives, and Independent Mick Thwaites.

In Thames Valley, the three Conservative finalists will be David Burbage, Kieron Mallon and Anthony Stansfeld. The Labour candidate will be former Lib-Dem Tim Starkey.

Meanwhile in Merseyside, prominent media sources are reporting that the Labour nomination has been won by Jane Kennedy in the battle of the ex-Ministers, beating Peter Kilfoyle (and Police Authority Chair Bill Weightman).

If Tim Iredale is right about the result in Humberside, you may not want to put the telly on this Monday, due to the risk of seeing yet more of John Prescott crowing about how he can still win elections at 74.

Meanwhile, good news for Lancashire Conservatives and TopOfTheCops readers. Our old friend County Councillor Clive Grunshaw has become the Labour candidate in Lancashire.

This is probably a good time to commiserate with all the candidates of any political colour, who tonight are feeling blue. I shall not name them here, but these people risked time, money and embarassment because they cared about the result, because they thought they could do the best job, and were prepared to take that risk. Their parties have chosen other people, but that doesn’t mean the parties made the right decision, and we should be grateful for the sacrifices they made to have a go.

If you look at the candidates who haven’t made it, some of them are very experienced in policing or in other fields. Former Police Federation Chair Jan Berry for example, has not been selected in Kent. The lack of candidates being considered in more than one area and issues with the parties’ selection processes combine to produce a phallanx of credible people without the backing of one of the main two political parties. That is something that in the right circumstances could backfire on those parties.

 

Posted in Conservatives, Independents, Labour, Selecting Candidates | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Initial results of risking it all

Posted on 16/06/2012 by samchapman

Today it was announced that Avon & Somerset Conservatives had chosen Ken Maddock as their official Candidate for Police and Crime Commissioner. That’s one out of the TopOfTheCops five ‘Risking It All‘ candidates.

3 others are due to learn their fate on Monday, when the Labour Party selection results are due, with the last one (yours truly) due to know sometime between the end of next week and 14 July.

Keep an eye on TopOfTheCops on Twitter and the web for all your candidate selection news.

 

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Be Part Of It – full video

Posted on 15/06/2012 by samchapman

Blair Gibbs said it was ‘fun‘.

The Times Crime editor Sean O’Neill thought it was ‘chirpy’, but saw it as a sign of ‘desperate times‘.

Policing First’s Paul West demanded ‘please, please tell me it’s a spoof‘.

But to me, it’s Lancashire Police Authority going out on a high. It may be ‘cheesy’ to highbrow types, but I think it’s equal measures of fabulous and hilarious – ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for the full video version if the Lancashire Hotpots ‘Be Part Of It – Make Sure You Vote!’

 

 

Posted in Resources | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Last day for Labour selection

Posted on 14/06/2012 by samchapman

The Labour Party have encountered two extremes in their candidate selection process for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections:-

1) not having enough candidates to choose from by the time it gets to the shortlist. Shortlists of one have abounded, causing resentment among party activists who have claimed it wasn’t well advertised, or that longlisting and shortlisting were too harsh.

2) fully contested postal-ballot elections, with late arrival of certain ballot papers, and candidates turning to unions to fund mailshots to large numbers of members over vast areas.

Anyway, tomorrow is the last day for votes to arrive, so if you are in the Labour party and reading this, it’s probably a bit late for the post, but I’m told you can vote electronically here.

Across the country, Conservative candidates facing selection committees and a variety of meetings, where members of the party or the public will be crammed into halls where votes are taken on paper slips, will be making comparisons.

 

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Westminster Briefing on PCCs and Community Safety Partnership

Posted on 13/06/2012 by samchapman

Today, I have been combining my old job (Community Safety Manager) with my new role as PCC pundit/prospective candidate, by joining Suffolk’s Labour PCC candidate Jane Basham on a panel at a House Magazine Westminster Briefing event on PCCs and partnerships. We and a few attendees with twitter accounts somehow put aside the natural reluctance to meet people you have only previously encountered on the Internet.
It was clear that attendees were concerned about changes to Community Safety funding, and in particular the fact that the Commissioner will have such an important role in, well, commissioning. Some seemed to feel amalgamations of partnerships were on their way, with PCCs possibly preferring a simpler life with less Partnerships to deal with. Others were worried about competition between partnerships for diminished funding. It’s natural to worry when you don’t know what’s going to happen, but that doesn’t mean that it will always be the worst thing that does happen.
For myself, I have no inbuilt desire to abolish any partnership that has been working well for the past 13 years and is ready to embrace the future. I value the expertise that has been built up and am reluctant to start again.
Attendees were concerned about how to make their case to PCCs. Forests are currently being grown to supply the paper for everyone who wants to ‘brief’ the PCCs when they arrive on the scene. In my judgement partnerships would be wise to avoid information overload, and so I was happy to hear Pamela McAllister make the point that what they needed to do was ‘tell the story’. This is so much more important and more rare than raw data. PCCs will need to know not just what the data says, but what it means, to do their job effectively.
Beyond the prepared questions of ‘why are you standing’, ‘what’s your understanding of the role’, and ‘what are likely to be the themes of your campaign’, you may wish to know what community safety folk wanted to know:-
What will you actually be doing on a day to day basis? (fairly sure I read that one on the way to the event as one of Jon Harvey’s latest list of 13 questions for PCCs.)
What happens if a PCC’s plan and a partnership’s Strategic Assessment don’t match up?
What do you expect from your relationship with the Police and Crime Panel?
But mostly they, like others, want to know how they can get you on side. Most of them have been hacking away at crime quite well over the past 13 years, so it might be worth finding out what they think.

Posted in Resources | 5 Comments