National and local politicians dominate Labour police and crime commissioner list

Labour has announced its police and crime commissioner (PCC) candidates including former MPs, local politicians and senior police authority figures.

Lord John Prescott pipped Keith Hunter, a former chief superintendent , by around 100 votes to become the party’s candidate in Humberside.

He said: “I am really honoured to have been chosen by Labour members to be their police and crime commissioner candidate. I intend to spend the next few months travelling the region listening to the people, from south bank to north bank, from village to city.

“I will be the people’s voice. They will shape their policing priorities with the police – not Whitehall.”

Labour’s Welsh candidates include a somewhat family affair with father and son standing across two force areas. Alun Michael, a former policing minister who currently sits on the Home Affairs Select Commitee (HASC), was chosen as Labour’s PCC candidate for South Wales, while his son, Tal Michael, who resigned from his position as chief executive of the North Wales Police Authority earlier this year, will stand in the north of the country.

Meanwhile, Med Hughes, a former chief constable with South Yorkshire Police, was beaten by the police authority’s vice chair Shaun Wright.

In West Yorkshire, the candidacy has been secured by Mark Burns-Williamson, who is the current chair of the Association of Police Authorities (APA).

Mr Burns-Williamson promised to stand up to the national Government if elected.

“Across Yorkshire and Humber we’ve already seen 1,845 police officers axed, and by 2015 the Government’s estimating West Yorkshire alone will have lost more than 750 officers. That’s why it’s so important for Labour to be contesting these elections.”

Councillor Bob Jones, a former APA chair and current member of Wolverhampton City Council, will stand for election to head West Midlands Police.

Michael Poulter, a former chair of Staffordshire Police Authority, was unsuccessful in his bid to become Labour’s PCC candidate in the force. He was beaten by Councillor Joy Garner, a current member of the Staffordshire Police Authority.

Labour Leader Ed Miliband said the party is determined to stand up for local communities across England and Wales.

He said: “The Government is making the wrong choices on crime, taking frontline police off the streets, weakening powers to deal with anti-social behaviour, and opening the door to the privatisation of core services.

“Labour candidates will fight the impact of these reckless changes, working within local communities to bring about the change people want.”

The Shadow Home Secretary said that the Labour-backed PCCs will work to effectively deal with the “unprecedented attack on the police and community safety” in the best interests of the public.

Yvette Cooper said: “Labour’s work with communities and the police helped cut crime and anti-social behaviour, with crime falling by 43 per cent when we were in government.

“Instead, David Cameron and Theresa May are cutting the police by 20 per cent with the loss of over 16,000 police officers and making it harder for the police to use DNA, CCTV and forensic evidence. At the same time we are seeing worrying rises in personal crime. We still believe that the Government should call off these November elections and spend the extra money involved on over 3,000 new police constables.

“If they don’t, Labour’s talented and experienced candidates for police and crime commissioners will campaign hard against these government cuts, putting neighbourhood policing first with bobbies on the beat and a promise not to privatise the neighbourhood patrol or leave it only to PCSOs (police community support officers).”

She added that the party’s candidates have a wealth of experience in national and local policing, community safety, youth justice, crime prevention and sentencing – which she described as vital when trying to protect communities and fight crime “de