Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Reform PCC for Leicestershire "asked officer to help arrange Putin-style photo with horse for election leaflet"

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Rupert Matthews, the Conservative turned Reform police and crime commissioner for Leicestershire and Rutland, faced a police and crime panel meeting at Leicestershire County Council on today to answer questions about a complaint.

BBC News says the complaint was made after Matthews sent an "unsolicited" email to a serving officer. It was referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which found no evidence to indicate a criminal offence had been committed. 

And the exciting news is that BBC News has been leaked a copy of the report the panel was considering:

The report states the complaint was referred to the IOPC on 4 September 2025.

It said Matthews "sent an unsolicited email to a police officer within Leicestershire Police, asking her to organise for him to have a photo taken with a horse for his next election leaflet, referencing a photograph of Russian president Vladimir Putin posing shirtless on horseback".

Rupert Matthews's office told BBC News that he had lodged a complaint about the leak of the report and that he is 

extremely frightened of horses and ... would never seek to work with them out of choice.

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