Sue Mountstevens to stand again
It has all been a bit of a catastrophe, but apparently she wants more. Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens has today announced she will stand for re-election. When she stood for election in 2012 she got almost double the number of votes of her nearest rival, Conservative Ken Maddock, but then the turnout was just 19.5%.
On the one hand it is hard not to sympathise with her words “After more than three years of experience, I am even more convinced that we need to keep politics out of policing. As a PCC, I am answerable only to the residents of Avon & Somerset: not to any political party or vested interests.”
On the other, her performance has been arguably lamentable, especially in the bumbling way she mishandled the dismissal of former Chief Constable Nick Gargan. It would be good to see politics kept out of policing, but it would also be good to see some professionalism and competence in the person in charge of our local police service.