Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner elected

Conservative candidate Chris Nelson has been re-elected as Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Gloucestershire.

It will be Mr. Nelson’s second term in office following his election in 2021.

The number of votes cast was as follows:

Chris Nelson (Conservative & Unionist)  47,838

Martin Surl (Liberal Democrat) 46,352

Ashley Smith (Labour & Co-Operative)  35,069

Matthew Randolph (Independent) 15,240

Because of the pandemic, Mr. Nelson’s current term in office, which officially ends on Wednesday 8 May, was for three years. He will now remain in office for the next four years.

He said, “Votes were spread among all four candidates and the result was much closer than last time when I had a majority of 30,000. Now it’s down to just a couple of thousand.

“I will represent every single person in the county, whether they voted for me or not. It behoves on me to pay attention to all the different voices out there so that I’m not focusing on any one particular group and respect democracy”.

The total number of verified ballot papers was 146,347. In 2021, the number was 280, 611 the highest it has ever been for a PCC election in Gloucestershire.

The turnout for the county was 29.5%, well below 2021 when it was 40.9%. In 2016 it was around 30.5% and in 2012 it was just under 16%.

Stroud again had the highest turnout at 41%, with the Forest of Dean the lowest at 19%. Elsewhere, the turnout in the Cotswold district was 24%, in Cheltenham it was 35%, Tewkesbury  21% and Gloucester 31%.