Candidates revealed for Devon and Cornwall police and crime commissioner election
By Joseph Macey
16th Sep 2021 | Local News
Candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party are lining up to challenge Conservative Alison Hernandez who is seeking re-election as police and crime commissioner for Devon and Cornwall.
The voting takes place across the two counties on Thursday, May 6, alongside elections for Cornwall and Devon councils, a third of the seats in Exeter and Plymouth, local council by-elections, parish and town councils and neighbourhood plan referendums.
The Labour candidate for commissioner is Gareth Derrick, a former Royal Navy commodore, who is a Plymouth city councillor and was a parliamentary candidate in South East Cornwall in 2017 and 2019. He came a close second to Ms Hernandez at the last PCC election in 2014.
The Liberal Democrat candidate is Brian Blake, a former police officer who served with the Devon and Cornwall force for more than 30 years and stood at the first PCC election in 2012.
The Green Party candidate is Stuart Jackson, who worked as a training officer with the force until 2018. He says he decided to stand in the light of events around the death in March of Sarah Everard, which triggered public debate about violence against women and girls.
Conservative Ms Hernandez narrowly beat Mr Derrick last time round in 2016 to become the commissioner for Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly. She polled 91,036 votes with her Labour rival on 87,242 after the count went to a second round.
Police and crime commissioners are elected by the public to ensure the policing needs of communities are met and to oversee how crime is tackled. They produce a police and crime plan to set force priorities, but have no role in operational policing.
The election for a commissioner for each of the 41 police forces in England and Wales, who normally serve a four-year term, was due to take place in May 2020, but was postponed due to the pandemic. The annual salary for the Devon and Cornwall PCC was set in 2018 at £86,700 and was due to be reviewed.
[H3] What does a police and crime commissioner do? [.H2]
Elected police and crime commissioners replaced police authorities, with the first taking office in November 2012.
The Government's Choose My PCC website, which has information about the election, says:
"Police and crime commissioners are elected to hold your police force to account for delivering the kind of policing you want to see.
"Their aim is to cut crime and to ensure your police force is effective."
It says PCCs "bring a public voice to policing" by:
- Engaging with the public and victims of crime to help set police and crime plans.
- Ensuring the police force budget is spent where it matters most;
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