Labour chooses Sussex graduate to run for police and crime commissioner

Labour has picked Godfrey Daniel to run for the post of elected Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, the party announced today (Monday 18 June).

He lived in Brighton for four years as a student at Sussex University before embarking on a career in teaching, fostering, residential social work and local government.

He has been a councillor for 18 years, having been elected to Hastings Borough Council in 1994. He became a member of East Sussex County Council in 1997.

Councillor Daniel, 61, is the only Labour member of Sussex Police Authority, having served since 2009. He previously served as a member of the authority from 1997 to 2001.

He was a member of the Sussex Probation Board from 2001 to 2007 and has been a magistrate since 1989.

He said: “I won’t stand by and let Tories/Liberal Democrats become cheerleaders for police cuts in Sussex.

“Since coming into office, the Tory-led government have attacked the police and undermined the fight against crime.

“Police budgets have been cut by 20 per cent, nearly double what experts said could be cut.

“Sixteen thousand police officers across the country are being lost.

“Already over 5,000 frontline officers in neighbourhood policing, traffic and 999 response units have been cut – 192 here in Sussex

“The Tories should be trying to fight crime and support the police. Instead they are cutting your police officers and don’t have a proper plan to cut crime.

“The government need to realise you don’t cut crime by cutting the police.”

He said that his five key pledges were

• Stand up for communities against the Tories’ 20 per cent cuts to policing and the loss of 16,000 police officers.
• Keep police on the beat with neighbourhood policing, not hand it over to private companies or leave it only to PCSOs.
• Back a strong and swift response to antisocial behaviour. Victims should get a response within 24 hours.
• We will work in partnership with police, local people and councils to tackle and prevent crime.
• Protect the police from political interference. Labour candidates have signed a contract to respect the independence of the Chief Constable.

He said: “If Labour were in government right now, we wouldn’t be cutting police officers. We would be focusing on cutting crime instead.

“We did not support the Tory-led government’s policy of police and crime commissioners because we believe the £100 million cost would be better spent on frontline policing.

“But we can’t leave communities to Tory police and crime commissioners who will merely be cheerleaders for government cuts.

“Labour police and crime commissioners will stand to fight the damage being done to policing by the Tories and do what we can to support the police in the fight against crime.”

Ian Chisnall, who is running as an Independent for police and crime commissioner, said that he welcomed Councillor Daniel’s selection.

He reiterated his belief that the election should not be contested by political parties.

He said that the involvement of political parties in the election on Thursday 15 November was not what many people in Sussex actually want.

He added that it was not even well supported among the parties, saying: “I have high-profile supporters from all of the four political parties in Sussex and from among the independent councillors.

“Even Jacqui Smith, previous Labour Home Secretary, admitted in a speech in 2008, ‘there is a real risk that something that is very important in British policing – about non-politicisation – is at risk of being undermined’ as she considered the best form of accountability for the police.

“The police should not be a political organisation, and the only way to ensure they are not is for there to be an independent police and crime commissioner.”

The Conservatives are due to hold selection interviews on Saturday (23 June).

MPs with a seat in the county and representatives of all the county’s constituency associations will pick two to four candidates from a shortlist of six.

They are

• Katy Bourne – Conservative Women’s Organisation chairman, Mid Sussex District Council member, business angel, former Roedean pupil and now a governor of the Brighton school
• Paul Dendle – chairman of Sussex Area Conservatives, Arun District Council member and businessman
• Colin Field – magistrate, funeral director and former High Sheriff of West Sussex
• Peter Jones – East Sussex County Council leader, member and former chairman of Sussex Police Authority, former stockbroker
• Anthony Kimber – former Army officer and civil contingencies planner with experience of co-ordinating military security for party conferences in Brighton
• George Lee – businessman, former police officer and parliamentary candidate

They were chosen from a long-list of 12 which included Sussex Police Authority chairman Steve Waight.

The final choice will be made at a hustings at the Triangle sports centre in Burgess Hill on Saturday 14 July.

The Liberal Democrats and Greens look unlikely to field an official candidate. Up to four other independents have signalled that they may run for the £85,000-a-year post. They will need to find a £5,000 deposit and 100 people to nominate them.