Senior Tory drops out of police job race

Jane Kenyon, current chairman of North Yorkshire Police Authority, said she had decided to focus on her roles as a county and local councillor and had withdrawn from the selection process.

There are now five contenders for the Tory candidature. A shortlist of two is to be drawn up by regional party officials on June 16 with the final selection being made by party members at the end of the month.

The political complexion of North Yorkshire means whoever becomes the Tory candidate stands a good chance of becoming the area’s first elected police commissioner when the public vote in November.

The five remaining candidates are: Ian Gillies, Tory group leader on York Council; Mike Jordan, a member of both North Yorkshire County Council and Selby District Council; Carl Les, deputy leader of the county council and a member of the police authority; Julia Mulligan, previously Tory candidate for the Leeds North West Parliamentary seat; and Peter Walker, a former deputy chief constable in North Yorkshire.

Coun Kenyon, who is a member of the county council and Scarborough Borough Council, said: “The Conservative Party is getting on with the process of selecting a candidate, I’ve ruled myself out of that process.

“My first love has always been the people I represent in my council work, the people of Whitby.

“My council role is very precious to me and I still intend to remain very interested and engaged in my local area in policing as chair of my local community safety board.

“The taxpayer isn’t going to be paying £70,000 a year for a commissioner who is then going to be spending a third or more of their time as a councillor.

“There has to be a divorce between the two.”