Lib Dem candidate to fight for Gloucestershire's Police Commissioner role

“The liberal democrats can get lost. Limp lot of lefties.”

“MissyMadDog - from what I know so far, I'd agree that the independent Martin Surl might be the best option. No political tie (certainly not to the main 3 parties), and he's a retired policeman, so should have a good idea of what the job entails. Agreed that politicising the new role (and therefore by inference, the police) is wrong - Alistair Cameron has been selected by the local Lib Dems party, and I assume the Conservative & Labour candidates have also been selected by their parties - so just like candidates in a political election.

Re. half the voting population not knowing about this whole situation, you may well be right. But I'm assuming we'll all get poll cards like we do for a normal elevation, so everybody registered to vote will know about it at least a couple of weeks before the voting day. But the turnout will be very low I'm sure, meaning the winner will probably be elected into the job by the minority of the voting population. But that's the system we've got, so that's how it will work.”

“I've no intention of voting for Alistair Cameron, the Tory or Labour candidate. I think this whole idea of politicising the police is wrong, so the safest bet as far as I'm concerned is Martin Surl, he's independent and an ex copper. And it's unlikely there will be high voting turnout as apparently about half the voting population don't even know about this new police commissioner role.”

“Matt / GlosCityRes

If you do a bit more research on Ms Atkins you'll find that she's been chasing Conservative nominations for political office around the country for a few years now, including Sailsbury, Macclesfield and Orpington.

I wonder why she hasn't stood in any of the places she previously was interested in?

I do like the sound of the independent candidate.
A former police officer is probably going to be better acquainted with the needs of the police service.”

“As if we hav,nt had enough of Liberalism rammed down our throats we now have the option of having a Liberal police commisioner, now as the country as slid into a tangled web of liberalism , they want us to vote them into a high ranking police job,, having said that, why do we need a police commisioner, can,t the Cheif constable inform us about whats going on. Time for the muppets at shire hall to come into the real world....”

“Matt1006 - if you look at http://tinyurl.com/7ghcgch then it says she is also a Solicitor, and it certainly looks a much "cooler" website. I like the Videos she has done.

I have seen a bit of the argument for an ex copper to take this place, but some say that it could be an issue having someone who aspired to be the Chief then be in charge of the Chief?

I think Ysedra has nailed it on the head! It is going to be that public relations role that will be most important.”

“So when can we expect campaign leaflets to start appearing through our letter boxes, or local debating sessions, or any other form of electioneering from the candidates? Or will our decisions on who to vote for have to be made when we've got that little grey pencil in our hands, in the polling booth???

Agree with GlosYap - this should not be a popularity contest, where we have to vote for an individual we will probably know very little about, apart from their political affiliations (assuming the ballot paper lists their party below their name).

According to Wiki, "The commissioner will be an elected representative charged with securing efficient and effective policing of a police area". In which case, somebody with much experience, knowledge & a degree of respect within the existing police force (not to mention the county-wide community) should be doing the job. So how does Alistair Cameron (or any of the other prospective candidates) stack up in this regard? What does he do for a living now? What experience & qualifications does he have?

Also from Wiki, I note that the other declared candidates for Glos Constabulary are Victoria Atkins (Cons, lawyer), Rupi Dhanda (Lab, ???), and Martin Surl (Ind, retired Superintendent). So purely based on previous employment, Mr. Surl appears to be a good contender, as might Ms. Atkins, if she's a criminal lawyer. But I wouldn't know any of them from Adam, so why should I vote for any of them over the others?

I must admit I've not done any research into the candidates (apart from what I've just found on Wiki) or what the role they are seeking election to entails, but they will all want me to vote for them, so it's up to them to win my vote. I assume as the election date approaches we'll see an increase in articles on this website to persuade us to vote for them, but I'm not going to go hunting for the information, they need to entice me into voting for them.”

“Vote LibDem and you vote for the coalition that is dismantling our safety and security in order to reduce taxes for millionaires. We need more police officers not less. We need to feel safe, yet the coalition don't care. Just £6 a year on council tax would have stopped a lot of the police cuts”

“Keep the police jobs and do not employ PCSO the jobsworth waste of money types ,they are not trained to the same level as a police officer and are full of their own self importance.”

“Can someone tell me what job the commisioner will do tat isnt already being done by the chief constable?
Is there an option to vote for not having one?”