A Comment on the PCC situation: letter from Tony Millett

Sirs,

The appalling affair of the Conservative candidate in the election for the new Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Wiltshire and Swindon has cast an unwonted  shadow over the whole round of elections that took place in our area on 6 May.

Apart from the inquiry being undertaken by Thames Valley Police (on behalf of Wiltshire Police), there should also be an open inquiry by the Electoral Commission.  It seems the legislation governing the PPC elections is faulty.   Why should an election have to be re-run if one of the candidates has to withdraw between voting day and the count?  Although this election is not a straight first-past-the-post vote, with Councillor Seed being disbarred by a drink driving conviction, the post should undoubtedly go to his nearest rival in the vote tally. 

However, fairness has been put aside and as the law stands there must be a new election – which will take place on 19 August.  This absurdity will cause huge inconvenience and cost in the region of £1.4 million – that cost apparently being borne by the council tax payers of Wiltshire and Swindon.  We will all be paying about £2 a head for the privilege of covering up this Conservative Party blunder.

Either the police or the Electoral Commission should investigate Mr Seed’s claim in his election literature that his plans for the police force had been ‘approved’ by Wiltshire Police.  The Police responded to a complaint by the LibDem candidate Elizabeth Webster about Mr Seed’s claim, saying:  “It is not the role of the Force to approve candidate manifestos or pledges, but to assist in discussing the feasibility and practicalities of such plans.”

Unfortunately, this affair is not a laughing matter.  The other candidates in the 6 May election have had more than a year to discuss their plans and talk to the previous PCC and to the police.  A new Conservative candidate will be starting from scratch.  And he or she has yet to named. 

In the meantime we shall have three months without a PCC – perhaps the politicians who set up this system of oversight did not think the post would be quite as important as some people now think.

Yours,

Tony Millett
Clench Common