THE first police crime commissioner for the Thames Valley has been elected.

Conservative Anthony Stansfeld beat his nearest rival, Labour’s Tim Starkey, after two counts following voting on Thursday last week.

After the second round of counting, Mr Stansfeld polled 94,238 votes compared with Mr Starkey’s total of 70,403.However, 3.3 per cent of ballot papers were spoilt and the turnout was just 13.3 per cent.

Mr Stansfeld, a West Berkshire councillor for Kintbury who was chairman of the Thames Valley Police Authorit’s performance committee, will take up his £85,000-a-year role in May. His responsibilities will include setting the Thames Valley force’s budget of £400million and hiring and firing the chief constable.

He said: “I’m taking on this job in a bid to reduce crime but we all know that’s a lot easier to say than to actually do. The police are only one part of the system and if the criminal justice system and the Crown Prosecution Service are not working properly then that’s one area to address. Thames Valley Police has shown its resilience in recent years by actually improving its performance in the face of tighter budgets.”


Mr Stansfeld saw army service in Borneo and Northern Ireland before becoming managing director of an aircraft company.

Published 26/11/12