Wednesday, November 16, 2011

More problems with police commissioner elections

Michael Crick, always a sage judge, writes of "the excellent Liberator magazine".

He does so while discussing the decision by the Federal Executive of the Liberal Democrats not to fund any candidates in next year's police commissioner elections and to encourage local parties to endorse independents. I blogged about this myself last month.

Crick writes of the elections in general:
I keep asking Labour and Tory people whether anyone is interested in fighting for these jobs, and no names are mentioned – apart from Col Tim Collins, who came forward a few weeks ago, and may end up being the Tory contender in Kent. 
The overall national outcome could be pretty unsatisfactory for those who’ve long backed the idea of police commissioners (including David Cameron, an early champion of the idea). 
We are heading for lists of very mediocre candidates, fighting almost invisible campaigns, and getting elected on extremely low turnouts. With the possibility of a few rich pickings for UKIP.
If the Conservatives are so keen on these elected commissioners - I am not - why are they not keener on fighting the elections?

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