Former council chief executive joins police commissioner race

2:01pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News

IN THE RUNNING: Kingsley Smith, former Chief Executive of Durham County Council IN THE RUNNING: Kingsley Smith, former Chief Executive of Durham County Council

A SURPRISE new candidate has entered the race to become County Durham and Darlington’s first Police and Crime Commissioner.

With a week to go before the final list of candidates is announced Kingsley Smith, former Chief Executive of Durham County Council, has declared he is standing as an Independent.

It had previously been a two horse race between candidates Ron Hogg (Labour) and Nick Varley (Conservative). The election takes place on November 15.

Mr Smith said: "I have been looking into standing for some time and have also received huge encouragement from people across Darlington and County Durham.

"I believe very strongly that this post should be held by someone who is truly independent. It should be someone who can do the job for the 600,000 people of this area without fear or favour, and without obligations to a political machine, trade union or any other group – a people’s police force led by an independent Commissioner."

Mr Smith said he was being supported by people of all ages and from all walks of life across the county. A hundred signatures from supporters among the electorate are needed before a candidate can stand.

"What has impressed me is the strength of feeling from people who say the post holder should be independent.

"The job should be about making the streets of County Durham safer, about reducing crime and increasing detection rates, about tacking antisocial behaviour at its roots, about supporting grass roots neighbourhood policing and about zero tolerance for criminals. It should not be about following a party line. As an independent my obligation would be to the people of County Durham and Darlington."

Mr Smith said he also wanted to support the victims of crime.

"I remember the great distress and pain my own elderly parents suffered when their home was burgled and violated. They never got over it and it has shaped my zero tolerance attitude to crime and to criminals."

Mr Smith, who is currently chairman of Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the highly respected Freeman and RVI hospitals, has lived and worked in the police force area for more than 40 years. During his 17 years as Chief Executive of Durham County Council he worked with a wide range of stakeholders in social and economic development and took it to 'excellent' status.

He also supported the Prince’s Trust for many years and has been an advisor to the police service and magistrates and probation services.

He said: "I want to be the voice of the people and make their priorities my priorities. We need to keep politics out of local policing and truly reflect what the law abiding majority want from their police service." 

Comments(30)

ianh says...
4:55pm Fri 12 Oct 12

"We need to keep politics out of local policing and truly reflect what the law abiding majority want from their police service."

Couldnt agree more!
Why on earth would we want politicians running the police service?

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Spy Boy says...
5:24pm Fri 12 Oct 12

As a former chief executive is he not political ? I agree, we must keep politics out of this post, but how we do this is going to be tricky. We're all biased politically to some point.

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Thomas Atkins says...
5:29pm Fri 12 Oct 12

Well, he'll get my vote.

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NO EINSTEIN says...
6:35pm Fri 12 Oct 12

we need the common man in these posts, that say it how it is, not ex big knobs who are doing it for the money and glamour.
We need someone who says, stop criminals because we are going to make your life hell when we catch you, we are going to evict you from your council house, we are going to stop your benefits as your earning money through theft, and we are going to ban you from the area, as your a hazard to the local people not a benefit.

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frankyboy says...
7:39pm Fri 12 Oct 12

"The job should be about making the streets of County Durham safer, about reducing crime and increasing detection rates, about tacking antisocial behaviour at its roots, about supporting grass roots neighbourhood policing and about zero tolerance for criminals. It should not be about following a party line. As an independent my obligation would be to the people of County Durham and Darlington."

Nice words, I hope he means it. He'll get my vote too; we surely don't want this to be yet another party political post?

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ian,haszeldine says...
8:24pm Fri 12 Oct 12

Very political gentleman just read his final comment, if that's not political what is, to me lets see the manifesto,s from candidates , then decide,

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ian,haszeldine says...
8:24pm Fri 12 Oct 12

Very political gentleman just read his final comment, if that's not political what is, to me lets see the manifesto,s from candidates , then decide,

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Webby666 says...
1:46pm Sat 13 Oct 12

Independent! Yeah right. You don't get to be Chief Executive of a Labour run Council without the backing of politicians. My mate tells me hes got the backing of local businesses who expect a kick back if he gets elected. Zero tolerance sounds a good soundbite but shows how naive he is. Who really pushed zero tolerance policing mmmm Cleveland Police. Elect this guy and youll have corruption within months. Theyve just sacked their chief constable for being corrupt and being in the pocket f their police authority chief executive, who is also under investigation. What was the link between them. Being too close to local businesses and wanting zero tolerance. Sound similar?

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frankyboy says...
10:37pm Sat 13 Oct 12

It will be a real shame if this becomes yet another Labour vs Tory, party political vote. We need a police commissioner who is focused on tackling crime, not one who is always following a party political line.
The Labour guy gets in and crime goes up. 'It's the Tory governments fault, lack of funding'. The Tory guy gets in and crime goes up. 'It's the Labour councils fault, they wouldn't back me.'

That's why I'll be voting for Smithy.

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MaggieJohnson says...
12:40pm Sun 14 Oct 12

Frankyboy, I suspect you actually know Mr Smith very well or are even on his election team. Your posts are just too close to a party political leaflet to be realistic.

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Dierdre says...
3:51pm Sun 14 Oct 12

Sadly in Middlesbrough a certain section of the community always votes Labour as do their wives and extended families. This will ensure that the Labour candidate Cllr Coppinger will get the post, just as it always ensured that Stuart Bell was voted back in again, time after time. It's common knowledge here that Mr Bell visited the mosques before the day of the election.

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Dierdre says...
3:54pm Sun 14 Oct 12

ian,haszeldine wrote:
Very political gentleman just read his final comment, if that's not political what is, to me lets see the manifesto,s from candidates , then decide,
Manifestos mean nothing at all - they will tell you anything to get your vote.

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Dierdre says...
3:56pm Sun 14 Oct 12

frankyboy wrote:
It will be a real shame if this becomes yet another Labour vs Tory, party political vote. We need a police commissioner who is focused on tackling crime, not one who is always following a party political line. The Labour guy gets in and crime goes up. 'It's the Tory governments fault, lack of funding'. The Tory guy gets in and crime goes up. 'It's the Labour councils fault, they wouldn't back me.' That's why I'll be voting for Smithy.
I agree - is there any real difference these days between Labour and Tory?

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John Justice says...
7:30am Mon 15 Oct 12

It is significant that there are no local business people standing. Also significant is the lack of women candidates. The major political parties have the money and infrastructure to advertise their candidates so the public will see more Political candidates than non-political in the run up to the elections. It would be healthy to see some local non political people standing, whether in business or experience in similar areas such as charity work, farming etc.
What we will not get is a massive public turnout to vote, this is one election that is very low key.

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Dierdre says...
8:00am Mon 15 Oct 12

John Justice wrote:
It is significant that there are no local business people standing. Also significant is the lack of women candidates. The major political parties have the money and infrastructure to advertise their candidates so the public will see more Political candidates than non-political in the run up to the elections. It would be healthy to see some local non political people standing, whether in business or experience in similar areas such as charity work, farming etc. What we will not get is a massive public turnout to vote, this is one election that is very low key.
I assure you there is no point in wasting money advertising for candidates - it's all done and dbehind the scenes.

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jewitt says...
9:58am Mon 15 Oct 12

Chief Executive of Durham County Council and he is not political?Doblt make me laugh. what what would he know about crime on the estates.

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the-big-yin says...
1:30pm Mon 15 Oct 12

it is time that someone who is more interested in cutting crime and not wanting the massive pay packet that goes with the job to apply...
the ones who are showing interest are politically motivated and money motivated.
once in the job nothing will change.
we need zero tolerance to any crime no matter how trivial, just like in america.
it is time the police took that stance and anyone commiting even the smallest crime gets locked up.

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ianh says...
3:02pm Mon 15 Oct 12

Seems to be some confusion here. The police dont decide who gets prosecuted (CPS) set the sentencing guidelines (Sec of State) or decide the sentence(Judge/magis
trate)
The Police are there to prevent crime or detect/catch those responsible for crime.

Therefore the Commissioners role is very straightforward. To ensure we have a trustworthy and effective police service, focussed on effectively serving the community and NOT following a party political agenda.

Whilst a former Chief Exec will of course have a political history, he is striking the right chord by avoiding a Party Political stance.

I note Ian Haszeldine (dbc cllr?) suggests we await the candidates manifestos. Well that fine if you really think they are worth the paper they are written on. I can think of a few manifesto "pledges" of late that were not..........

As stated in my first post, why would we want politicans running our police service. More to the point, why would we want party affiliated policticians (of any party) running the police?

I would be delighted to see more independants running for this post, but in the meantime Mr Smith is the nearest we have to a non party political candiate

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David Lacey says...
3:15pm Wed 17 Oct 12

It has got to be an independent. I don't really care who, as long as they are NOT a member of any political party.

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Dierdre says...
3:44pm Wed 17 Oct 12

David Lacey wrote:
It has got to be an independent. I don't really care who, as long as they are NOT a member of any political party.
Mr Lacey - the Labour party in the North East is akin to the Mafia in Italy. Believe me when I say their tentacles are attached to 90% of decisions made. In Mbro council they chair and dominate every single committee.

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Dierdre says...
3:44pm Wed 17 Oct 12

David Lacey wrote:
It has got to be an independent. I don't really care who, as long as they are NOT a member of any political party.
Mr Lacey - the Labour party in the North East is akin to the Mafia in Italy. Believe me when I say their tentacles are attached to 90% of decisions made. In Mbro council they chair and dominate every single committee.

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frankyboy says...
2:36pm Thu 18 Oct 12

Dierdre wrote:
David Lacey wrote: It has got to be an independent. I don't really care who, as long as they are NOT a member of any political party.
Mr Lacey - the Labour party in the North East is akin to the Mafia in Italy. Believe me when I say their tentacles are attached to 90% of decisions made. In Mbro council they chair and dominate every single committee.
This is the reason why I'll also vote for Mr Smith. I'm not on his election team and I don't know him but the thought of this important job becoming yet another party political joust is hard to bear.
I don't think he can win it sadly, as he just can't compete financially or politically against the well-greased Labour and Tory spin machines. So my vote may not count for much, but it's going Independent anyway.

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Dierdre says...
3:26pm Thu 18 Oct 12

Alos, any chief exec of a local authority will have seen how the ruling Labour group of councillors operate behind the scenes in town halls remember. Cloak and dagger, you scratch my back I scratch yours, decisions made behind closed door before residents are consulted, power and positions of authority only given to their own and all others kept out of it etc etc .

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spoorsjone says...
8:00pm Thu 18 Oct 12

I'm sure the tory party dominates council politics in other parts of the country with the same behind the scenes dodgy deals Dierdre, o i forgot the tory party is whiter than white ,never seeking financial reward always putting the public first-pull the other one its got bells on.

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Dierdre says...
8:41pm Thu 18 Oct 12

spoorsjone wrote:
I'm sure the tory party dominates council politics in other parts of the country with the same behind the scenes dodgy deals Dierdre, o i forgot the tory party is whiter than white ,never seeking financial reward always putting the public first-pull the other one its got bells on.
spoorjone - I would not know as I don't have any experience of a Tory dominated council. It is for these reasons that I would only ever voted Independent - political parties ruin everything. I see little differene between Tory and Labour any more.

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spoorsjone says...
9:37pm Thu 18 Oct 12

so you waste your vote every time.

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Dierdre says...
9:49pm Thu 18 Oct 12

spoorsjone wrote:
so you waste your vote every time.
The only way to waste a vote is not voting at all.

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John Justice says...
10:05pm Thu 18 Oct 12

As a former Police Officer in Durham (now retired) it could be said that I have a greater interest in who the new Crime Commissioner will be. I have been retired for some years now but have noticed that there is a trend in the Politicisation of Chief Officers. The previous Metropolitan Commissioner Ian Blair is a case in point and a classic case of why we need an Political free Commissioner in post. Ron Hogg is on the face of it the ideal person for the job but he is tainted as the Labour candidate and I would think twice about voting for him. It is gratifying to see the number of posters agreeing that the post should be non political and I hope that this trend gains support of the majority who do cast a vote. Should it happen it will send a very powerful message to the main Political parties both local and national that voters have had enough of them. Remember, we have the power, send the message, it will get there. Vote No to Political Interference in local Policing.

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Claude Ted says...
1:53am Sat 27 Oct 12

The politicians have a head start with the funding & back up despite being unqualified & experienced in any such role. Their strings will be pulled & we will be no better off. It's a complete & utter waste of time & moneyhowever well meant. My view would be to vote for any independent that appears honest with a semblance of sense!

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Dierdre says...
11:45am Sat 27 Oct 12

Claude Ted wrote:
The politicians have a head start with the funding & back up despite being unqualified & experienced in any such role. Their strings will be pulled & we will be no better off. It's a complete & utter waste of time & moneyhowever well meant. My view would be to vote for any independent that appears honest with a semblance of sense!
I assume Ted that you meant to say "inexperienced" in any such role. You are correct in that the Labour tentacles will already have a grip on this and the Police Force will simply becocme nothing more than another "branch" of the party. However, I have to say that the solution lies in the hands of the voters of course. All those thousands of them who are tired of the two main parties wasting time bickering between each other both in Parliament and in Town Halls, should give the Independent candidates a chance - they have nothing at all to lose.

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