Fears over low vote at elections for new 
top cops

David Hanson told journalists at the Labour Party conference yesterday that he fears the Government has not done enough to promote next month’s inaugural Police and Crime Commissioner elections, and that the turn-out could be desperately low.

Polls will be held in each of the country’s police force areas – including all four in Yorkshire – on November 15. The new directly-elected officials will have the power to hire and fire chief constables and set policing priorities in the local area.

But concerns have been repeatedly raised that the public are unaware of the PCC elections and that only a small percentage of the electorate will come out to vote.

Asked how low he thought the turn-out could prove to be, Mr Hanson said: “I don’t know – but if you think of a local council election, it’s in the mid-30s (per cent) usually. And this is (only) one issue.

“So we could have potentially a 15 to 20 per cent turn-out. We could see somebody potentially winning on eight or nine per cent of the vote.

“That’s not going to be good for democracy – these are important elections.”

Mr Hanson claimed the Labour Party is doing what it can to raise awareness about the elections, but that it was ultimately the responsibility of the Government of the day to publicise its “flagship policy”.

“We’ve suggested a better advertising campaign, we’ve suggested information on the electoral system, which is brand new,” he said. “The Government are ignoring those things.

“I’m hoping there won’t be a low turn-out. I’m spending my time going round trying to raise interest. But it’s a flagship Government policy – they have a responsibility for the turn-out. I hope they focus on that in the next few weeks.”

Labour opposed the introduction of PCCs but claimed it now wants to work with the system in place. The party unveiled its full list of candidates for the elections yesterday headed up by Lord Prescott, who is standing to be PCC for the Humberside Police area.

“Lord Prescott is well-known in Hull,” said Mr Hanson, who went to university in the city. “He’s got to break out of our traditional Labour base in the city of Hull and in Grimsby to win support.

“But I think people know him, they know what they’re going to get, and they’ll make a judgment based on what they see.

“If I lived in Hull, which I did for many years, I would vote for Prescott irrespective of the fact he’s the Labour candidate, because you know what you will get.”