Elections for the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) will take place on Thursday 6 May, in 12 days time, a year after they were postponed due to coronavirus.
Police and Crime Commissioners function to hold their police force to account on implementing policing that the electorate wants to see. They are responsible for deciding on a police and crime plan, the force budget and precept and appointing the Chief Constable. The Police & Crime Panel then scrutinises such decisions made by the Commissioner. PCCs were first elected in 2013.
Brighton and Hove is included as one of 13 local council areas across Sussex; the combined vote across Sussex will determine the PCC.
Brighton and Hove City Council say the arrangement of a PCC serves to ‘increase transparency’ in how policing services are delivered and to ‘give the public the ability to ensure their police are accountable.’
If you are registered to vote in Brighton and/or Sussex, you can vote in person at your local polling station, but postal votes had to have been applied for by 20 April. Electors can vote for a first and second preference
Safety measures are being arranged at polling stations, alongside standard mandatory facemasks and social distancing.
These include:
- Hand-sanitising stations at entrances and exits
- Regular sanitising of pencils and booths
- Maximum numbers of electors allowed inside polling stations at any time.
The result will be declared on Monday 10 May, and the newly or reelected PPC will take office on Thursday 13 May.
Candidates for Sussex
- Jamie Frank Bennett – Liberal Democrats
- Kahina Suzanna Bouhassane – Green Party
- Katy Elizabeth Bourne – Conservatives
- Paul Adrian Richards – Labour and Co-operative
- Roy Thomas Williams – Independent
The current commissioner is Katy Bourne OBE, Conservative Party. The most recent election was in May 2016 when Bourne was re-elected PCC. PCC elections take place every four years, but were postponed due to coronavirus.
Image Credit: Mike 54547
