Labour should think again about how it selects candidates for the police and crime commissioner elections

By Rhys Williams

—After months of uncertainty, Labour’s National Executive Committee decided in December to stand candidates in the first police and crime commissioner elections. This decision is to be welcomed. As a political party it is Labour’s purpose to stand candidates for elections who represent Labour values. The party is now faced with the more difficult task of finding qualified candidates resident in each police authority area. But here the selection rules adopted by the NEC are likely to disappoint.

Candidates need to apply by 17 February. Longlisted candidates will be interviewed by regional and NEC representatives before a final shortlist of candidates is put to a membership ballot. The result is a process that closely resembles the procedures for selection of parliamentary candidates. However, PCCs are single-person executive positions similar to elected mayors in the strategic role they will play and the skills they will require. As with mayoral elections the public are also likely to look beyond the party label when making their choice, benefitting high-profile, experienced and independent candidates.

At least they will if they know that PCC elections are happening; recent polling has shown that only 27 per cent do. If Labour is to triumph it needs to find candidates with a high profile who can raise the public’s interest and motivate them to go to the polls in the November cold and dark. Perhaps the ‘ideal’ candidate is someone like Charles Pollard, former chief constable of Thames Valley Police and now a campaigner for restorative justice. If people such as Pollard could be persuaded to run as Labour candidates they could prevent PCC elections becoming a race to the bottom between populist candidates, each seeking to be seen as tougher on criminals than their rivals.

A recent report by the Institute for Government highlighted that the lack of awareness about the new posts could result in few candidates of sufficient calibre standing. To address this it recommends that the parties reach out beyond their membership and work with organisations such as Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary, the Local Government Association, and the Association of Police Officers to identify good-quality candidates who could be approached to stand on a Labour ticket. Another proposal is for Ed Miliband to lead a public call for citizens to apply to be Labour candidates. When David Cameron did this ahead of the 2010 general election over 4,000 people applied and a handful went on to become MPs, including local and independent-minded candidates such as the GP Sarah Wollaston.

These proposals will be controversial but should be considered nonetheless. The party has already effectively admitted that there is a shallow pool of candidates, in some areas at least, by ruling out using all-women shortlists, fearing that the local residency requirement for PCC candidates would result in too few women candidates to choose from in many areas. More outward-looking and imaginative selection processes are required if we are to find good men and women candidates in our communities to stand. If that means prioritising those with relevant professional expertise over party service, and endorsing non-party members prepared to stand as Labour candidates, then that is what the party should do.

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Rhys Williams is co-author of the Institute for Government report Party People: How Do – and How Should – British Political Parties Select their Parliamentary Candidates?

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Photo: Ian Britton