Police Commissioner Elections

[sunny-dave]

Tomorrow, for the first time ever, the public across England and Wales will elect police and crime commissioners who will be accountable for how crime is tackled in their police force area.

Tomorrow, for the first time ever, I will go to a Polling Station and deliberately spoil my ballot paper.

I have voted in every national, local and european election since I was old enough to vote - but this unnecessary farce is just a step too far.

The biggest reason to oppose these reforms is that they guarantee the politicisation of the police. In the summer of 2008 the new mayor of London, one Boris Johnson, sacked the Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, on the general grounds that Blair was a New Labour man at heart. It was a harbinger of what is to come: meddling from a partisan individual in the setting of the police budget and the disbursing of crime prevention funds.

I refuse to encourage this ridiculous nonsense by voting for anyone - but equally I cannot bear to be labelled as an 'apathetic non-voter'.

So I will write in big letters on my ballot paper "NONE OF THE ABOVE" and put a big X beside that.

[Nibble]

Feel the same, and I've yet to find anyone who'll actually genuinely vote.

[sherrardk]

Feel better now? Seriously, don't understand why they are bothering, seems like a giant waste of money to me.

[doctordb]

I'm with you s-d.

[percypineapple]

must admit, i wouldn't know any of the cops or whatever they are on the voting paper, and neither do my neighbours, a farce and waste of public funds.
I would imagine the turn out of voters will be almost nil.

[Ann]

Refused to take part - could not to be bothered to go out to vote for this - I don't know any of the candidates, how are we suppposed to know if they will be good in our area? Its a waste of public money. Whose idea is it?

[askyourgran]

I ran a similar thread sunnydave, Mine was a postal vote and I just didn't complete it and send it back. I wasn't sure how I could spoil it. I agree it is a farce, no-one seems to know the candidates, and the ones I've seen are less than impressive. They don't have much to say for themselves considering they can earn up to £100.000pa.telling the Police Service what to do. It annoys me that this is a political stunt they seem to be trying to play that part of it down. I hope this idea falls through.

[Ann]

Even OH who always votes for everything and is on lots of committees in our town, didn't bother to go and vote.

[mazie]

Same here.... A total waste of time and money. Just another layer of red tape. They don't really know what to spend our money on next.

[sherrardk]

I thought voting was tomorrow?

[sunny-dave]

Apologies AyG - I was out of circulation for much of last week & missed your thread.

[Ann]

Angers me when jobs are being cut, prices going up on food, energy and petrol, then we see this enormous unneccessary waste of money.

[Baldric]

My polling card has been filed in the shredder already.

[dotty.]

the candidates aren't even police officers and they are all representing one of the political pARTIES! so it' not even about police it's about politics

[bednobs]

i find it very starnge that a person being appointed to a key strategic £85k a year job doesn't even have to interview for it. Still i suppose it's the same for politicians

[sunny-dave]

Voting is tomorrow, but many people will have had a postal vote which needed returning slightly earlier.

[Ann]

Oh yes Sherrard, so it is!!! Perhaps that is why OH didn't shift himself! :)

[excelsior-1]

I'm not voting for two reasons.

Firstly, the police around my way are not interested in solving crime .. They have been informed of drug taking and dealing in my neighbourhood - but have not acted.

Secondly .. One assumes that the police force are not political - but an independant organisation.
Why then are the candidates all political candidates?

[plautus]

I agree. I binned my postal vote. The law in general should be above any party political considerations. In "safe" constituencies the Labour/ Conservative/ Liberal candidate will be elected, even though he/she might be the least qualified for the job.

[plautus]

Do you think Cameron will get the message? No, I thought not!

[dotty.]

is iut not really just an american idea? have we had a plice commissioner before? i know we have a chief constable, what is the difference and why do we need one?