Police & Crime Commissioner Elections

The election of the PCC will mark a fundamental change to policing in the county, replacing the current Police Authority, its 17 members and the majority of their duties.

The incoming PCC will be tasked with cutting crime across Essex and overseeing policing on behalf of more than 1.7 million people.

His or her responsibilities will include:  

• meeting the public regularly to listen to their views on policing
• producing a police and crime plan for Essex setting out local policing priorities
• deciding how the policing budget will be spent and
• appointing Chief Constables and dismissing them if necessary.

The new Commissioner will take up the post on Thursday 22nd November and serve a term of four years. No PCC can be elected for more than two consecutive terms.

They will be held to account by a Police and Crime Panel (PCP) made up of councillors from each of the districts and unitary authorities in Essex and the County Council plus two independent members.

Residents can vote at a polling station or by post or proxy. Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm. Voters must be named on the electoral register to cast their vote.

The deadline for postal vote applications is 5pm on Wednesday 31st October. The deadline for proxy applications is 5pm on Wednesday 7th November.

This PCC Election is being held using the supplementary vote (SV) electoral system, meaning you can vote for your first and second choice candidate.

As long as you mark one cross against your first choice candidate your vote will be counted.

Once you have marked a first choice you can choose whether or not to mark a second choice. However, if you only mark a cross in the second choice column you’re vote won’t be counted.

All the first choice votes are counted and if any of the candidates receive more than 50 per cent of votes cast then they are elected.

If no candidate receives more than 50 per cent of the first choice votes the top two polling candidates will proceed to the second round and all other candidates are eliminated.

The second choice votes of everyone whose first choice candidate has been eliminated are then counted and any for the remaining two candidates are added to their first round totals.

Whichever candidate has the most votes after these second preferences have been allocated is declared the winner and elected.

Counting will commence on Friday 16th November and the results from Southend will be fed to the county’s PCC Election HQ in Chelmsford.

The result of the election should be known by mid-afternoon the same day.

The six candidates contesting the election in Essex are:  

• Nick Alston (Conservative)
• Linda Belgrove (Independent)
• Val Morris-Cook (Labour)
• Andrew Smith (United Kingdom Independence Party)
• Mick Thwaites (Independent)
• Robin Tilbrook (English Democrats)

To see information on the Essex PCC candidates go to www.choosemypcc.org.uk or call 0800-107 0708 to order printed information about them.