Time to vote for police commissioner

Voters will choose a police chief this week but some suspect apathy will be the real winner

John Prescott is running for the post of police commissioner in Humberside. Elsewhere, MPs and former ministers are standing. The contest in Sussex lacks anyone with the profile or high-level experience of the former Deputy Prime Minister.

But one local candidate deserves credit for his efforts to raise the stakes in a contest that can hardly have been said to have inspired the public at large. Ian Chisnall announced in February that he would stand as an independent.

He was the first of the five candidates out of the stalls. And he made a case for keeping politics out of policing. His rivals, naturally, disagree and have the benefit of a party machine behind them to amplify their message.

Other potential independent candidates spoke about standing but the £5,000 deposit and the requirement for 100 subscribers present two significant hurdles.

It is to Mr Chisnall’s credit that he has not just met these conditions but spoken to community groups in so many parts of the county during his energetic campaign.

Praise for Mr Chisnall is not intended to detract from the campaigns of his rivals. In fact, for all his efforts, Mr Chisnall is very much the underdog and it would be a minor miracle if he were to top the poll. He has campaigned with courtesy and humour while posing challenging questions and spelling out his own ideas.

The likelihood is that the Conservative candidate, Katy Bourne, will win on Thursday 15 November. Most Sussex councils are Conservative. Most Sussex MPs are Conservative. She has played safe with her campaign. And while she is not as well known as two of her main rivals – Labour’s Godfrey Daniel and Lib Dem David Rogers – she expects most people to vote for her party rather than her as an individual. Tony Armstrong, of the UK Independence Party, is the fifth candidate.

In some quarters there is almost the same level of interest in the voter turnout as there is in the result. Turnout is predicted to be poor.

The Vote Show on Latest TV heard from the candidates and they were asked whether the public cared about this election and if they should. On this last question the candidates were united. One of the five will be elected so people should take the opportunity to exercise a choice. Watch the show – and cast your vote.

Who would you prefer to be police commissioner?
•1 of the 5 candidates
•A serving politician
•A retired police officer
•An unelected
police servant
•None of the above
Vote online at www.thelatest.co.uk

Who would you vote for tomorrow?
X Green ?%
X Labour ?%
X Conservative ?%
X Other ?%
Vote online at www.thelatest.co.uk

The Gossip
Frank is our Nick Robinson. Instead of being outside No. 10, he’s outside King’s House with all the council news

Brighton and Hove Mayor Bill Randall will be one of the speakers when a new organisation dedicated to cutting people’s energy bills holds a launch party on Friday.
BHESCO is a collective which is being set up to give thousands of people across Brighton and Hove better bargaining power with the big gas and electricity suppliers.
BHESCO plans to reinvest its profits in energy-saving schemes and renewable energy micro-generation for its customers.
People can sign up for savings at www.bhesco.co.uk

On Thursday expect the latest episode in the long-running saga of the mobile library. The vehicle housing the books is past its sell-by date.
The Greens wanted to scrap it and bank the saving from ending the relatively expensive service rather than fork out for repairs or a replacement.
But veteran Labour councillor Brian Fitch has made capital out of needling the administration over this even though they offered to run a doorstep delivery service in place of the old vehicle.

Twice Labour and the Conservatives have combined to defeat the Greens. A compromise now looks likely involving a reduced service.
The anonymous Brighton Politics Blogger has remarked in the past about Councillor Fitch’s ability to mount exactly this sort of campaign. Next in his sights is trying to save Toads Hole Valley from the builders. While few expect him to succeed, they would be wise not to underestimate him.

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