Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner election debacle
The count for the Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner elections was completed on Monday 10 May.
The results of the first preference votes are as follows:
- Junab Ali (Labour): 34147
- Julian Malins (Reform UK): 4348
- Brig Oubridge (Green): 16606
- Mike Rees (Independent): 31722
- Jonathon Seed (Conservative): 84885
- Liz Webster (Liberal Democrats): 35013
The total number of valid first and second preference votes cast for the remaining candidates is:
- Jonathon Seed (Conservative): 100,003
- Liz Webster (Liberal Democrats): 58,074
The election for the Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner will have to be re-run after the Conservative candidate Jonathon Seed was disbarred due to non disclosure of a previous criminal conviction from 1993, which is contravening the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the by-election will now cost the Wiltshire tax payer over £1 million pounds.
According to ITV reportage both Conservative HQ and Seed knew this had come to light BEFORE the elections last week. There will now be questions asked and the matter is being investigated by the police and no doubt Wiltshire Council.
Wiltshire Times appeared to endorse Mr Seed with a congratulatory headline on their front page article which was swiftly changed to a more somber one when complaints were received. The text of the article however remained unchanged with no indication of awareness of the ITV pre knowledge and there appeared to be little understanding of the consequences of the Representation of the People Act 1983 being broken and the implication in cost to Wiltshire tax payers.
It leads one to wonder how free the press in Wiltshire is and is there bias towards political parties? Questions to ask of the paper in the future.
The PCC election will have to be re-run after Tory Party HQ disbarred Mr Seed because of a 30-year-old drink drive conviction | Wiltshire Times
Terence Herbert, Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner Area Returning Officer, said: "The election count for the Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner has been completed today at Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre in Salisbury, and Jonathon Seed, the Conservative Party candidate, has been declared as the winner.
"The result of this election marks the culmination of a long and busy weekend for our hard working staff, who have managed a COVID-secure election across 348 polling stations in Wiltshire, and counts for 98 Wiltshire Council unitary divisions; 63 city, town and parish elections; and the PCC election. I'd like to thank them all for all their hard work during the past few months. They are true public servants."
The council's Head of Paid Service will be considering the next steps to take following this election after taking appropriate legal advice.
All election results are available on the Wiltshire Council website: https://elections.wiltshire.gov.uk/Home/Results