WM police elections

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So far less than half have provided any information...

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Must admit I know hardly anything about them.

The only articles I've seen have been bitter personal attacks by individual candidates which is why I haven't posted any of them here.

To complicate matters there are completely separate elections for Warwickshire.

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West Midlands PCC election: Vote count starts

Counting has started in the first election for the West Midlands police and crime commissioner (PCC).

Seven candidates stood for the post, which will replace the police authority on 22 November.

In some parts of the force area, turnout was as low as 12.5% of those eligible to vote.

The PCC will be responsible for scrutinising the second largest force in the UK and holding its chief constable to account.

They will also help to set priorities and manage a £546m budget.

With a recruitment freeze in place and budget cuts of £125m over the next four years, the winning candidate will take up the post during one of the toughest periods in the force's recent history.

Deputy police area returning officer Robert Connelly said turnout figures in the Walsall and Solihull council areas were 12.5%, while the figure across Birmingham City Council's area was 12.8%.

The total turnout figure for the West Midlands police force area, which includes Birmingham, Solihull, the Black Country and Coventry, is expected later.

Patrick Burns, the BBC's Political Editor in the West Midlands, said the turnouts could be almost as significant as the result.

"If only around 15% of people vote, how can the government fulfil their vision of a new generation of high-profile heavy-hitters, in contrast with the outgoing police authorities, which they accused of being 'invisible' during last year's riots in Birmingham?

"Ministers are now hoping the electors will have three-and-a-half years to catch on to the idea before the next elections in the spring of 2017."

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West Midlands PCC election: Labour win



Labour's Bob Jones has won the election for the West Midlands' first police and crime commissioner (PCC).

Mr Jones led Conservative candidate Matt Bennett by more than 55,000 votes going into the second round of counting in Birmingham and Coventry.

Five other candidates were eliminated after the first round.

Mr Jones is due to take over from the police authority on 22 November and will be responsible for holding the UK's second largest force to account.

On a £100,000 salary, he is expected to set policing priorities and work with the chief constable to allocate the £546m budget.

Under the supplementary system, Mr Jones sealed victory with 117,388 votes, compared with 55,685 for Matt Bennett.

Ballots for candidates eliminated after the first round were recounted to allocate those voters' second choices.

Across the West Midlands police area, 12% of those eligible to vote turned out, with 7,063 spoilt ballots. The turnout figure was lowest in Coventry at 10.18%.

Deputy police area returning officer Robert Connelly said the figures in the Walsall and Solihull council areas were 12.5%, 12.8% in Birmingham and Wolverhampton and 12.18% in Sandwell.

Liberal Democrat 'collapse'

With a recruitment freeze in place and budget cuts of £125m over the next four years, Mr Jones will take up the post during one of the toughest periods in the force's recent history.

The West Midlands police force area includes Birmingham, Solihull, the Black Country and Coventry.

BBC Political Editor in the Midlands, Patrick Burns, said the result of four district counts showed the "near-collapse" of the Liberal Democrat vote, even in MP Lorely Burt's Solihull ward, where the party's share of the vote dropped from 43% at the last general election to 3.4%.

In Coventry, the Liberal Democrat candidate, Ayoub Khan, polled just 783 votes, even failing to match the number of spoilt ballot papers (884).

BBC WM political reporter Elizabeth Glinka said officials at the Birmingham count said the number of spoilt ballots was "not out of the ordinary" and were in line with what would normally be expected at other elections.

After the first round of counting Bill Etheridge (UKIP), Cath Hannon (Independent), Ayoub Khan (Liberal Democrat), Mike Rumble (Independent) and Bishop Derek Webley (Independent) were eliminated.

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PCC elections farce as just 10% of voters go to the polls in Coventry



APATHY ruled the day as only one in ten Coventrians voted for a new crime supremo to run West Midlands Police.

Coventry posted one of the lowest turnouts in the country for the police and crime commissioner elections at just at 10.54 per cent.

Coventry’s turnout was 24,778 out of a possible 235,120 voters after 158 polling stations were set up and 15 primary schools closed on Thursday.

The turnout compared to around 18.5 per cent nationally.

Scores of workers were employed to run polling stations and count votes at the Ricoh Arena as Labour candidate Bob Jones swept to power at West Midlands Police.

But even the man elected as the new commissioner does not think it is a good idea.

The Wolverhampton councillor said: “If you wanted an idea to minimise turnout and maximise spoiled ballot papers then I couldn’t think of a better way than this.

“It just reflects the fact that many of the public feel the same way I do - they can’t see the point in spending £100million on all this when we are cutting staff and police resources.

“Many people share my concerns that this is a risky post to create. But someone’s got to do it and it’s my job to manage this transition as smoothly as possible.”

Coventry’s turnout was downgraded in the Ricoh’s exhibition hall from an initial figure of 10.92 per cent after a “technical adjustment”.

Martin Reeves, Coventry City Council’s chief executive and the returning officer responsible for the Coventry count, said there had been an unusually high number of deliberately spoilt ballot papers.

He said many of the 884 rejected ballot papers had disparaging comments written on them.

There were more spoiled ballot papers in Coventry than votes for the Liberal Democrat candidate, Ayoub Khan, who polled just 783 votes.

“There are hundreds and hundreds of spoilt papers and lot have been written on and spoilt with comments,” Mr Reeves said. “You always get a percentage of spoiled ballot papers but there are a lot that have been spoiled deliberately.”

Coventry chose Bob Jones after a second round of voting saw him take 12,467 votes compared with 5,017 votes for Matt Bennett (Con).

Under the new ‘supplementary voting system’ if no candidate takes more than 50 per cent of first preference votes, a second round of counting takes place.

The two candidates with the most votes have their second preference votes added to their final tally.

A final decision was announced at the ICC in Birmingham after the result was echoed elsewhere in the West Midlands. Mr Jones is a Wolverhampton councillor who has sat on the West Midlands Police Authority since 1985.

He will take home a salary – thought to be almost £100,000 – to set priorities and control budgets at the country’s second largest force.

John Mutton, leader of Coventry City Council, said the whole election was “a total waste of money” at a time of cutbacks.

Coun Jim O’Boyle – Bob Jones’ election agent in Coventry – said: “No-one has come out of this looking good – which is a great pity for Bob as he’s a perfectly fine candidate but I just don’t see the logic in all this. The government cannot think this is democracy in action.”

The election brought about soul searching over local democracy from rival politicians across the city.

Coun Ken Taylor, a former Conservative leader of Coventry City Council, said: “It’s been badly publicised and the people who did vote didn’t know how to vote with this new system. When there’s a low turnout it can tilt it in favour of independent candidates.’’

Coventry City Council said the cost of the election would be reimbursed by the Home Office.