Yahoo News Surrey Police Crime Commissioner election results after Lisa Townsend re-elected PCC
Across the country, voters went to the polls on Thursday (May 2) to cast their votes for 37 Police Crime Commissioner. In Surrey this has resulted in the re-election of Lisa Townsend, Conservative, to the PCC role.
Lisa Townsend has spoken to our Local Democracy Reporter Emily Dalton, who was at the count. She said today about her campaign: "There were no surprises in terms of what the public were bringing up, I suppose if I'm completely honest, I feel like I was the only candidate who ran a clean, fair campaign.
"My constituents were getting in touch about issues that surprised me because one of the other candidates had said something that just wasn't true. And having to correct that is a bit frustrating."
When asked if she think Surrey people trust the police, she said today: "I think overall we know Surrey trust the police. When I speak to people and our surveys reflect that. But there's no doubt that trust in policing, particularly due to what's happened in The Met and other places, has damaged the confidence in policing. But when I speak to ordinary people, they have an enormous amount of respect for people who put on that uniform."
Lisa Townsend, is the incumbent Surrey PCC having won the post in the 2021 elections. The other candidates were Paul Kennedy, who also stood in 2021 and 2016, for the Lib Dems, Kate Chinn for the Labour Party and Alex Coley, who is an independent candidate. You can read what the candidates had to say before the vote here.
Tim De Meyer, Chief Constable of Surrey Police said following the result: "Surrey Police warmly congratulates Lisa Townsend on her re-election as Police & Crime Commissioner. We look forward to continuing to work with her on challenges such as tackling violence against women and girls, improving our response to calls from the public and bringing more offenders to justice."
Across the county the PCC elections were held alongside borough and district elections in seven areas (Elmbridge, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Tandridge, Waverley and Woking) while in the remaining four Surrey council areas (Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Spelthorne and Surrey Heath) the police elections were the only vote on the ballot.
Votes were declared around 3pm, with borough councils posting the results in their area. Turnout for the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner elections was 29.9%. with 265,706 votes cast, out of an electorate of 888,083.
READ MORE: Live Surrey local election 2024 updates, reaction and results
For the first time the winner was selected with a first past the post, previous PCC elections were run with a single-transferable vote system.
The role of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is to be the voice of the people and hold the police to account. PCCs aim to cut crime and deliver an effective and efficient police service within their police force area. In Surrey, the role holds a salary of £73,300 a year.
When confirmed and announced, results for the PCC election in each area will appear on the map below.
Results for borough and district council elections, once confirmed, will be available by the below links:
