The results are in

Contrary to what some pundits were predicting, former Air Chief Marshal Sir Clive Loader won the PCC election for the Tories.  The turnout was a pathetic - just 15.98%.

There was no outright winner after the first count.  Sir Clive had 59915 votes, Sarah Russell 42051, and the independent Suleman Nagdi 21744.  After Nagdi's votes were redistributed to the second choice the final outcome was Tories 64661, Lab 51835.  In other words, an archetypical Tory got 25% of the largely Asian, largely city vote, we got 50% give or take, and 25% expressed no second preference.

The results here in Harborough District were a slightly better turnout of 18.7%, Con 8424, Lab 2262 and Ind 1446.

What does this tell us?  Firstly, the public does not like the idea of an elected PCC.  Labour should pledge to abolish the post forthwith.  Secondly, the absence of LibDems does not automatically mean more Labour votes.  Thirdly, the Asian vote, as I have been saying for some time, is not to be taken for granted as Labour.  It is far more subtle than that.  Finally and most importantly it tells us that people recoil from politics as the game has traditionally been conducted.

This was even the case in Corby where Andy Sawford achieved a thumping victory and the LibDems lost their deposit.  Take nothing away from the achievement of Andy and his team but the turnout - in Corby, which has been roundly betrayed by the Tories, in the media spotlight and with all the political heavyweights in town - was only 44.8%.

Britain is becoming anti-political.  It suits the Tories and the right wing press to encourage the antagonism.  We in Labour have to find new, better ways of engaging with and motivating the people who instinctively side with us.

Today's the day!

I've been and voted for Sarah.  Have you?

One day to go...

Writing in The Independent today, John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, has Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland down as a good Labour prospect tomorrow.  Clearly, he bases his prognostication on the whopping Labour vote in the city.  We won't get all that tomorrow; on the other hand, the disaffected Asian vote will largely go to the independent with, in the absence of a LibDem, Labour as second preference.  For once, the Labour vote in the county will be critical.  We should win in the north - Charnwood, Coalville etc - but the east is a write-off, except in Melton, and Hinckley & Bosworth is never easy to call.  So it is clearly important that here in the south we get our Labour votes in early, when nobody's looking, and do nothing to startle the Tories.

VOTE EARLY---VOTE LABOUR---VOTE SARAH.

PCC poster

At last!  Meaningful material from Central Office re the Police and Crime Commissioner elections.  Actually, very good material.  Congrats to whoever designed it.

Tory PCC Blame Game

David Hanson MP, Labour's Shadow Policing Minister, responding to Damian Green's comments that people can't complain about Police and Crime Commissioners if they don't vote, said:

“This Government will blame anyone but themselves for all the problems with these elections, when the truth is that they are all of their own making.

“But because these are important elections for the safety of our communities, Labour is doing our best to make them work. Our candidates are campaigning hard and we want as many people as possible to come out and vote Labour on 15 November so that we can send a message to David Cameron about his cuts to 15,000 police officers.”

HERE IN LEICESTERSHIRE IT IS CRUCIAL THAT WE VOTE SARAH RUSSELL FOR PCC AND SHOW OUR OPPOSITION TO MORE POLICE CUTS!

Don't forget the PCC election!

Just over a week before the scandal of the £75 million police commissioner elections in which a tiny turnout of between 10 and 20% will see unheard-of Tories returned, claiming a mandate to cut and cut everything except their own wages, it is worth considering what the Tories really think about the police.

A week or so ago David sent me an article from the Birmingham Post.  You can read the article in full by clicking this hyperlink, and I recommend you do.  However, the crux of the matter is, the Tories are making West Midlands Police chip in £0.5m towards the cost of policing this year's Tory conference in the city.  To add insult to injury the same funding change means the force owe themselves £249,942 for the pleasure of protecting last year's LibDem conference from cheated voters.  All this of course, at a time when hundreds of  officers in the second city are facing the chop.

The government's ploy of downplaying the PCC elections is a disgrace - and we should be ashamed of ourselves for letting them get away with it.

So buck the trend on Thursday November 15.  Defy the pundits and vote in the PCC election.  Vote Labour.  Vote for Sarah Russell!

Commissioner questions

I found an interesting post on the Labour Uncut site: "Question time for commissioner candidates."

Of course in Leicestershire we are not being balloted about our candidate - Sarah was the only person shortlisted.  However we now know that former air chief marshal Sir Clive Loader has been chosen as the Tory candidate.  I wonder what his view would be on the deployment of tasers and water cannons?

NB: Sir Clive already has his campaign website up and running.  Click here to view it.

What will happen to Victim Support?

Here's one issue that should arise when the elections for Police and Crime Commissioners finally get under way.  Funding for Victim Support will be decided locally by the Commissioners and Victim Support the charity are already campaigning to change this.

Personally I am ambivalent about the need for a chari-business with a CEO and professional fundraisers and lobbyists - but I do value the work done by the thousands of unpaid volunteers and am concerned that one person, with little or no experience of the court process, should decide the level of service available.

The money involved is not trivial.  Every court fine is automatically accompanied by a £15 surcharge "for the victims of crime."  No one is convinced that every penny of this goes to the Victim Support service, but nevertheless...

I would love to know what Sarah Russell thinking is on the subject, and in due course I will surely ask.  In the meantime, you can read Victim Support's official position here.

Electing our first police and crime commissioner

Sarah Russell, Labour's candidate for elected Police Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, spoke at the all-member GC meeting last night.

Whilst this was Sarah's debut as commissioner candidate, she is very experienced in the higher levels of local government.  A long-serving councillor for the Westcotes Ward, she is currently assistant mayor in Sir Peter Soulsby's cabinet with responsibility for Neighbourhood Services - exactly the background needed to protect neighbourhood policing both within the city and out here in easily-neglected rural areas.  In reply to some challenging questions from the floor, Sarah explained how she has set up inter-agency groups to deal with local problems.   Police officers are members of those groups, working to cure the problem, not just contain it.  Most importantly, Sarah is clear - the commissioner's job is to develop the strategic framework; implementing that strategy and deploying police resources remains a professional judgement for the chief constable.

A flavour of the farago going on with other parties can be had here.  The Lib Dems claim they are not standing anywhere because they are opposed to elected police commissioners.  This may seem odd, given that Nick and Vince and the other one didn't exactly kick up a fuss in Cabinet.  The more cynical among us might assume the real reason is that they can't find enough dupes willing to endure that degree of a kicking.

The independent, Rick Moore, is a far more serious proposition.  He has been out and about on the pre-election trail for some months now - I first read about his candidacy in an alumni magazine issued the first week in January.  I have known Rick for eighteen years and he means business come November.  Activists in the City probably haven't known him quite so long but they found out he was a player when he came second to Peter Soulsby in the mayoral election last year.  And let us not forget that the same supplementary vote system is to be used for the commissioner election. 

Also speaking at the meeting was Philip Hunt, Labour lead on Home Affairs in the House of Lords.

Labour was against elected commissioners but we are a serious political party and when there is an election we stand candidates.  Just because we didn't support the principal doesn't mean we cannot commit wholeheartedly to the process.  And this, as Philip pointed out, is important - there will be people standing in these elections who want to instruct the chief constable in his duty.  There will be some who imagine the job will be like the American system we see in TV cop shows, where the commissioner spends his or her time building a political powerbase and sacks the police chief as a matter of course every election year.  That is how you politicize police officers.  And if anyone needs reminding how Britain feels about the police getting embroiled with politics they should keep an eye on the Leveson Inquiry.

Whoever wins these posts will have tremendous personal power (check out the information here), far more than elected mayors and even Boris.  They will personally set the police precept.  The scrutiny they are technically subject to is frankly pathetic.  It is therefore vital that the best people win, people with experience of public service, who put public needs before personal ambition.

The challenge is going to be turnout.  A November election, after the European Cup, Olympics and Jubilee?  I can't come up with an accurate figure for the electorate but the population here is somewhere around 940,000.  How can anyone hope to contact that many people in a meaningful way?  Especially when it hasn't yet been decided who is going to pay for the 'free' leaflet delivery.

I know I'm biased but this seems to me to be an election that simply has to be conducted largely online.  Thank goodness the GC arranged this early wake-up call!