Douglas Carswell's Blog

Elected Police Chiefs?! You'll be wanting to elect those who make the law next!

We keep on being told what a disaster the Police and Crime Commissioner elections are going to be.  

"Not enough information" say some. "Too few people going to vote".  "No one will stand" announce others.  "Boycott them" suggests daft Ian Blair.

Thanks to the internet, it has never been easier to find out about those standing for public office.  If you want to do a bit a research on those standing in the November elections where you live, have a look here.  And don't just see what they have to say, ask them a question directly through email.

Of course, not every candidate for the job will make the effort to push a leaflet through your letter box.  Some might not manage to mobilise the team of local helpers you need to win elections.  A shame, yes.  But perhaps that of itself tells you something about the candidate and what they stand for.

It may well be that voter turnout is low.  20 percent?  50 percent?  10 percent?   But what percentage of people had any say over how the police were run before? 0.0001 percent?   

And as for the idea that no one will stand, I see that Alun Michael, former first minister in Wales, and Tony Lloyd, have just quit Parliament to run for the job. 

Many of the candidates standing for the role are not even household names in their own homes.  But who saw Rudy Giuliani coming?  Some of those running in the November elections will become household names throughout Britain. 

Just because we are not used to something, it does not mean that it is not a good idea. And merely because something is not perfect, it does not mean it is not better than what went before.

Back to all posts