Douglas Carswell's Blog

Elected police chiefs; an idea whose time has come

Today Theresa May publishes plans to introduce directly elected police commissioners.  Bravo.

It is almost exactly ten years ago I first published a paper proposing this reform. You can read the original proposal here, or the further refinement of it here and here. 

I mention this not to claim credit for today’s proposal, but to make a broader point about the way in which ideas in politics are taken up.

Perhaps because of the way our brains are wired, or perhaps because old memes don’t like to yield space to the new, our default setting seems to be to reject innovative ideas. Thus when a new thought comes along, too often we dismiss it out of hand.

When I first published a paper calling for direct elected police commissioners, the idea was all too often brushed aside without initial consideration. “Are you insane, Carswell? You mean elect the person who runs the police!” That, I recall, was the response of more than a few folk in Westminster.

Next comes the stage when those same critics stop objecting to the idea, but are keen to tell you of all the practical reasons why it can’t be done. “Great idea. But it won’t work because of blah blah blah .... ”.  The objections then cited are often really excuses for opposing the idea, rather than reasons against it.   

Third comes the stage when they tell you that it was actually their idea all along.   I’m delighted to hear it.

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