It is one week to go until the biggest set of polls outside of a general election in UK history, prompting some commentators to bill next Thursday ‘the British midterms’. Wales and Scotland both vote for their devolved parliaments alongside 13 directly elected mayoralties including Tees Valley, West Midlands and of course London with its assembly. Around 5,000 council seats will be fought across the country alongside the hard fought Hartlepool by-election.
But while next Thursday looks set to be a psephologist’s dream, one set of elections has attracted little attention or enthusiasm: the 39 Police and Crime commissioner contests in England and Wales, delayed a year due to Covid. Established by the Coalition government in its initial burst of reforming zeal, PCCs were intended to inject more accountability and make the police ‘answerable to the communities they serve.’ Nine years on and Mr S thought ahead of polling day it would be interesting to see what the public thought of these positions which command a salary of between £70,000 to £100,000.
A new poll for The Spectator by Redfield and Wilton — with a sample size of 1,500 – quizzed the public on attitudes towards PCCs and policing more general.
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