Wiltshire Police & Crime Commissioner Election marred by Tory Disbarrment
We would like to wish our Wiltshire Liberal Democrat Police and Crime Commissioner candidate Liz Webster all the best for tomorrow's election count.
Like everyone we were stunned when the story about Conservative PCC candidate Jonathan Seed declaring having a previous conviction, which would have barred him from standing for office emerged. Jonathon Seed: Conservative PCC candidate barred after offence emerges - BBC News
It seems however that it raises more questions than it answers. Seed has stood down as a candidate for the Wiltshire PCC saying ""To the best of my knowledge and belief when I applied for and became the Police and Crime Commissioner candidate for the Conservative Party in Wiltshire and Swindon, I was an eligible candidate. I have declared my thirty-year-old driving conviction to the Party in my applications both to be a Parliamentary candidate and more recently a PCC candidate".
Jonathon Seed confirms he is pulled out of crime commissioner race | Swindon Advertiser
But this raises further questions - the ITV reporter was asking Seed about former convictions 8 days ago prior to the local election voting took place, so why is the story breaking AFTER the vote took place - was this an attempt by Wiltshire Conservatives or even central Conservatives to minimise disruption to any to their chances in the Wiltshire elections? And if the ITV were approaching Seed days before the election, he would no doubt have spoken to his local Conservative party and agent to seek advice.
And Conservatives should surely know that the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 disqualifies a person from standing for election for a police and crime commissioner (PCC) if they have at any time been convicted of an offence for which a person could be sent to prison; whether they themselves were sent to prison for that offence. Previous examples of people stepping aside for this were a Labour candidate Bob Ashford. Labour's Bob Ashford steps down as police candidate over conviction - BBC News
Bob Ashford at the time said '"To sign the declaration, knowing that I had committed an offence, would in itself be a criminal act which of course I am not prepared to countenance".
So, it seems very likely that;
a) The Conservatives knew about the conviction as Seed asserts, they did
b) That they are knowing put forward a candidate who should be debarred from the PCC office
c) That most likely Seed and at least his Conservative agent, if not the Conservative HQ knew about this story and deliberately choose to suppress it until after the Local Elections.
There needs to be a full investigation into the timeline of events and who knew about this revelation. We will be writing to local MP Andrew Murrison asking for a full explanation of these events.
Finally, should there need to be a by-election, the Wiltshire tax payer should NOT be footing the bill for Conservative messes.
