Candidates line up for chance to run Yorkshire police forces

The 53-year-old, from Scarborough, served with North Yorkshire Police from 1986 to 1996, when he was forced to retire through injury after an attack while on duty.

He is among several contenders from across the region who have indicated they may stand in the elections, which are due to be held on November 15.

He said: “I have been approached 11 times by two different political parties and I am currently undecided about how I feel about it. I must have been asked about 30 times to stand.

“I feel it might not be a good thing to have amateurs running a police force. I was a police officer for a long, long time and I have all sorts of experience.

“What I would be doing if I did stand would be moving away from police forces pursuing motorists and getting them down to dealing with public nuisance.”

Mr Taylor refused to reveal which parties had asked him to consider standing, but said he had decided which one he wished to represent and was waiting to hear more about the proposal before formally seeking its nomination in North Yorkshire.

A former deputy chief constable in North Yorkshire, Peter Walker, has applied to be the county’s Conservative candidate and already has a campaign website up and running.

The 57-year-old, who now owns a training business, pledged to help lift morale at a “tarnished” force by giving “clear, consistent and independent leadership” while exploring plans to save money such as outsourcing departments including human resources and payroll.

He said: “There are real opportunities to take away people who are working to support the frontline and to use that money to develop and enhance the number of officers to a credible level.”

Police authority chairman Jane Kenyon is yet to rule herself out while fellow member Carl Les has confirmed he is considering a bid for the Tory nomination.

Author Mike Pannett, whose books draw on his experience as a bobby in rural North Yorkshire, is also believed to be thinking of standing, but current Chief Constable Grahame Maxwell, who is due to leave the service in May, will not be returning as commissioner.

In West Yorkshire, police authority chairman Mark Burns-Williamson is to seek the Labour nomination and former chief constable Keith Hellawell is interested in standing as an independent.

But former Chief Crown Prosecutor Neil Franklin, Tory MP Philip Davies, ex-Labour MP Ann Cryer and Bradford Council leader Ian Greenwood are all out.

In the Humberside force area, sources close to the former Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Prescott, have said he is “80 per cent” likely to seek the Labour nomination.

Two contenders who have already declared their intention to represent Labour are former Humberside Police divisional commander Keith Hunter and Hull mayor Colin Inglis, who led the force’s governing authority for four years from 2001.

A fourth Labour contender could be former Brigg and Goole MP Ian Cawsey. “It’s not impossible,” he said. “I haven’t made a decision, but it’s certainly true to say that a lot of people have asked me if I would do it.”

Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis, a former Shadow Home Secretary, has been asked to find suitable Conservative candidates. His staff laughed off suggestions that he may decide to run himself, but he is yet to formally rule himself out.

In South Yorkshire, two current police authority members – Shaun Wright and Kash Walayat – are rumoured to be considering their options, but chairman Charles Perryman has no plans to stand.

Another possible contender is Anglican priest and former Sheffield Council deputy leader Canon Dr Alan Billings. Labour MPs David Blunkett and Dan Jarvis have ruled themselves out and the county’s former chief constable, Meredydd Hughes, said: “I have no plans at the moment.”