Vera Baird elected first police and crime commissioner
Labour candidate Vera Baird has been elected the first police and crime commissioner for Northumbria Police.
But the election, which has seen record levels of low turnout across the country, only had a turnout of 16.5 per cent in Northumberland.
A total of 40,689 votes, with 978 rejected, were cast by an electorate of 246,483.
Vera Baird received 16,260 first-preference votes with Conservative candidate Phil Butler closest behind on 15,994.
Alistair Baxter, of UKIP, came third with 4,285 votes while the Lib Dem candidate Peter Andras received 3,172.
The Home Office says that PCCs will make forces truly accountable to the communities they serve, ensuring that resources are properly targeted to where they are needed and giving the public a greater say in measures to reduce crime and improve community safety.
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Northumberland
Thursday 20 June 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
