Dr Alan Billings becomes Police and Crime Commissioner
SOUTH Yorkshire Police has another Labour Police and Crime Commissioner after Dr Alan Billings (pictured) won the by-election on Thursday 30 October.
He replaces Shaun Wright, who stood down in the wake of the Rotherham child sexual exploitation scandal.
Dr Billings received 74,060 votes out of 150,406 votes. The overall turnout was 14.88 per cent as the electorate was 1,010,599 people.
Neil Bowles, chairman of South Yorkshire Police Federation, said: “On behalf of my members I congratulate Dr Billings on his election. I am sure we can work together. I wish to impress upon him the need to improve the morale of our members – which in turn will ensure a great police service to the people of South Yorkshire.”
The official South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner account tweeted the turn out figures. They were: Doncaster – 15.24 per cent, Rotherham – 18 per cent, Sheffield – 14.5 per cent, Barnsley – 11.9 per cent.
Dr Billings is the former deputy leader of Sheffield Council, Sheffield parish priest and currently director of the Centre for Ethics and Religion at Lancaster University.
He defeated David Allen from the English Democrats, former police officer and UKIP member Counsellor Jack Clarkson and Ian Walker, from the Conservative Party.
Mr Wright stood down following weeks of pressure following the publication of the Jay report, which revealed that 1,400 girls in the town had been groomed, raped and sexually assaulted over 16 years while authorities turned a blind eye.
Nick Alston, national chair of the Association for Police and Crime Commissioners, said: “Police and Crime Commissioners across the country look forward to working alongside Alan Billings to continue to improve policing and help drive essential partnership working to keep our communities safe.
“One of the strengths of having PCCs is that we are elected by local people and are directly accountable to them.
“There is much work for PCCs to do, not only in holding our Chief Constables to account, but also in commissioning and overseeing a whole range of support services for victims of crime, and I’m delighted that the people of South Yorkshire once again have a PCC to perform this important role.”