Five to battle it out to be Sussex police and crime commissioner

Five candidates will battle it out to become the next police and crime commissioner (PCC) for Sussex.

Nominations closed at 4pm today (Thursday 7 April) with the current PCC, the Conservative Katy Bourne, and four rivals having stumped up the £5,000 deposit.

She faces a challenge from Crawley councillor Michael Jones, who is standing for Labour, and James Walsh, a Liberal Democrat member of Arun District Council and West Sussex County Council.

The final two challengers are Worthing councillor James Doyle, for the Greens, and UKIP candidate Patrick Lowe, who is based in Brighton and Hove.

The election takes place on Thursday 5 May and the winner will serve a four-year term.

Mrs Bourne won the first PCC election in Sussex in 2012 seeing off a challenge from Labour councillor Godfrey Daniel, from Hastings, and an Independent from Brighton, Ian Chisnall.

The turnout last time was 15.3 per cent as fewer than 200,000 voters took part in the poll out of more than 1.2 million registered electors.

Anyone not on the electoral roll who wants to vote next month has until Monday 18 April to register.

To find out more, click here.

The post of PCC was set up four years ago as a replacement for the police authority, which included councillors, magistrates and lay members.

The PCC is responsible for maintaining “an efficient and effective police force”. He or she holds the chief constable to account for the delivery of the police and crime plan and runs the police fund from which policing is financed.

It is the PCC who raises the police precept from council tax. The PCC is also responsible for the appointment, suspension and dismissal of the chief constable.