2021 Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner by-election

The 2021 Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner by-election was a by-election for the position of police and crime commissioner in the Wiltshire Police area of the United Kingdom, held on 19 August 2021.

It was triggered after Jonathon Seed, the successful candidate in the 2021 Wiltshire police and crime commissioner election (held in May 2021, postponed from May 2020), did not deliver his acceptance of office by 7 July. This followed Seed announcing his withdrawal from the election on 9 May, in the interval between the vote and the count, after ITV News discovered that Seed had been convicted in 1993 of a 1992 drink driving offence. It was later discovered by ITV News that Seed had a second offence of failure to stop.[1] These matters disqualified Seed from the role of Police and Crime Commissioner, as guidance published by the Electoral Commission says PCC candidates cannot seek election if they have been convicted of an offence punishable with a prison sentence, including spent convictions and those where a prison sentence was not given.[2]

The by-election had to be held with 35 working days of the vacancy by virtue of Section 51 of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011,[3] thus the date was set for 19 August.[4]

Candidates

On 23 July 2021, Wiltshire Council published the statement of persons nominated, which confirmed that five people had been validly nominated to stand:[5]

Results

No candidate received 50% or more of the vote from first preference votes. After first preference votes were counted, Wilkinson and Rees were the two leading candidates, receiving 35.96% and 27.82% of first preference votes respectively. After second preference votes were counted, Wilkinson was declared the winner, receiving 52.02% of the vote in the second round. Turnout for the election was 16.63%.[9]

2021 Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner by-election[10]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Conservative Philip Wilkinson 32,564 36.0% 5,188 37,752 52.02%
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Independent Mike Rees 25,197 27.8% 9,618 34,815 47.98%
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Liberal Democrats Brian Matthew 17,966 19.8%
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Labour Junab Ali 12,971 14.3%
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Reform UK Julian Malins 1,859 2.1%
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Turnout 91,553 16.63%
Rejected ballots 996 1.08%
Conservative hold

Previous result

2021 Wiltshire police and crime commissioner election[10]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round 1st round votesTransfer votes, 2nd round
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Conservative Jonathon Seed 84,885 41.06% 15,118 100,003 63.26%
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Liberal Democrats Liz Webster 35,013 16.94% 23,061 58,074 36.74%
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Labour Junab Ali 34,147 16.52%
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Independent Mike Rees 31,722 15.35%
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Green Brig Ourbridge 16,606 8.03%
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Reform UK Julian Malins 4,348 2.10%
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Turnout 206,721

References

  1. ^ "Conservative police and crime commissioner candidate Jonathon Seed disbarred over historic driving offence". ITV News. 9 May 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Guidance for candidates: Part 1 of 6: Can you stand for election?" (PDF). Electoral Commission. February 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  3. ^ Section51 PRaSRA Legislation.gov
  4. ^ McLaughlin, Matthew (12 May 2021). "New date for the Police and Crime Commissioner re-election set for August". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated 2021 Wiltshire PCC By-Election" (PDF). Wiltshire County Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  6. ^ McLaughlin, Matthew (7 July 2021). "Conservative PCC candidate on the election ahead in Wiltshire". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  7. ^ Baker, John (24 May 2021). "Lib Dems change candidate for next PCC election". Wiltshire Times. Archived from the original on 24 May 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  8. ^ Paessler, Benjamin (21 June 2021). "Independent candidate to stand again in second PCC election". Salisbury Journal.
  9. ^ "Wiltshire PCC: Conservative candidate wins re-run election". BBC News. 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
  10. ^ a b "All ballots in current or future Elections". Democracy Club Candidates. Retrieved 20 August 2021.