Labour has won the police and crime commissioner election in Avon and Somerset, taking the post from the Conservatives.
Clare Moody, Labour’s candidate for the region, beat her Tory predecessor Mark Shelford by more than 4,000 votes.
The election was for Avon and Somerset Police’s PCC, which also covers Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge.
Ms Moody, who was an MEP for South West England between 2014 and 2019, said after the result her priorities include tackling knife crime.
The turnout was low at 23.09% with about 100,000 fewer voters than at the last PCC election in 2021 when turnout was 30.72%.
Ms Moody said: “My priorities are around bringing policing closer to the communities, neighbourhood policing, tackling violent crime, and particularly knife crime and violence against women and girls.”
“And building prevention work so we can stop crime happening in the first place.”
She polled 95,982 votes, followed by Mr Shelford who received 91,006 votes.
Police and Crime Commissioners were first introduced in 2012 in a bid to reform policing.
Their main roles include holding police constabularies to account, deciding how much money the public should contribute to policing through council tax, and cutting crime through means such as outreach programmes.
Chief Constable Sarah Crew, who attended the election count, said: “Democracy has made its mark tonight. I’m really looking forward to working with the new police and crime commissioner designate to help her build her police and crime plan to help her build on her priorities that have led to her being successful tonight.“
”But I am also really grateful for the work that the outgoing police and crime commissioner has done with me, with tackling the issues in Avon and Somerset.”
Clare Moody comes to this role with a background spanning various sectors, including serving as a Member of the European Parliament and working within No.10 Downing Street under Gordon Brown.
Since the role’s inception in 2012, Avon and Somerset’s PCC has been served by Independent Sue Mountstevens until 2021 and then by Mr Shelford up until this election.
