The Conservative party candidate, Festus Akinbusoye, has been voted in as the county’s new Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
Mr Akinbusoye, 42, receveid 59,7934 votes. In second place, David Michael MBE, the Labour candidate received 50,815.
The result was delayed after the first round of votes proved inconclusive. After tallying the second round of votes, the Conservative candidate was victorious.
PCCs are elected using the Supplementary Vote system, with people making a first and second choice.
If no candidate gets more than 50 per cent of the first-choice votes, all except the top two candidates are eliminated.
At that stage, the second votes of those residents whose first choice has been eliminated are counted.
Eliminated after first round:
Jas Parmar (LibDem) – 15,983 (13.1%)
Patrick Hamill (Ind) – 8,279 (6.8%)
Antonio Vitiello (EngDem) – 3,387 (2.8%)
As part of his campaign, Mr Akinbusoye pledged to put policing back at the heart of rural and urban communities, improve public confidence in the police force and take a tough line on drug dealing and organised crime.
You can read our pre-election interview with him here:
Read:Police and Crime Commissioner Elections: Candidate Interviews – Festus Akinbusoye
The PCC is responsible for setting the force’s budget priorities, lobbying for funding from central government and working with the chief constable to allocate resources.
The previous incumbent, Kathryn Holloway (Conservative), has held the post since 2016 and was not seeking re-election.
As elected members, PCCs are directly accountable to the communities they serve. They attend monthly Police and Crime Panel meetings, where panel members made up of local councillors and independent lay members scrutinise their actions in running the force.
In 2016 the turnout for the PCC election was 23.7% of the electorate. The Bedford Independent has not yet had confirmation of this year’s turnout.
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