North Yorkshire Conservatives choose public relations expert Philip Allott as their candidate to be police and crime commissioner

Conservatives in North Yorkshire have selected a public relations expert as their candidate to replace Julia Mulligan as the county's police, fire and crime commissioner.
Conservative Philip Allott stood to become MP in Halifax in 2010 and 2015Conservative Philip Allott stood to become MP in Halifax in 2010 and 2015
Conservative Philip Allott stood to become MP in Halifax in 2010 and 2015

Philip Allott, the director of Knaresborough-based Allott and Associates, will campaign to be elected in 2020 following Mrs Mulligan's decision in March not to stand again.

The current North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, who was elected in 2012, earlier failed to be automatically selected as the Conservative candidate when local Tories decided there should be an open selection process.

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Julia Mulligan reveals why she won't be standing for re-election for North Yorks...
Conservative Philip Allott stood to become MP in Halifax in 2010 and 2015Conservative Philip Allott stood to become MP in Halifax in 2010 and 2015
Conservative Philip Allott stood to become MP in Halifax in 2010 and 2015
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She came under fire for her successful bid to get an oversight role over North Yorkshire's fire and rescue service and for selling off North Yorkshire Police's Newby Wiske headquarters to a firm that wanted to turn it into an outdoor activities holiday centre.

In a statement issued after her decision was made, she said she had "taken tough decisions which I firmly believe are the right ones, but which others clearly disagree with".

Mr Allott, a former member of the territorial army, was selected by Conservative members from North Yorkshire on Friday.

He has had two unsuccessful attempts to become a Conservative MP in Halifax, losing by 1,472 to Linda Riordan in 2010 and by just 428 votes to Holly Lynch in 2015.

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The Halifax Courier reported that he was branded a "bad loser" by the winning Labour MP following the 2010 vote after he handed police a dossier on supposed voter impersonation, bullying, multiple postal voting, bogus voters and false registration.

Mr Allott said his campaign will focus on increasing the visibility of the police, clamping down on anti-social behaviour and making the police and fire services more efficient to invest savings in frontline services.

“I am thrilled to be selected as the Conservative Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner candidate for North Yorkshire,” he said.

“Right across North Yorkshire, people want to feel safe on streets and in their homes and, if elected, I will work with the chief constable and her officers to make sure this is the case.

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“The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Conservative Government have shown their commitment to the police with the plans to recruit 20,000 extra officers.

“I will ensure North Yorkshire gets its rightful share of new officers and gets the investment needed for existing officers to continue their work to keep people across the county safe.”