Bedfordshire’s policing boss to step down?

Kathryn Holloway is believed to be looking to step down as police and crime commissioner for Bedfordshire.
Kathryn Holloway PNL-170220-115827001Kathryn Holloway PNL-170220-115827001
Kathryn Holloway PNL-170220-115827001

The Conservative politician, a former presenter on breakfast television show TV-am, was elected to the role in 2016.

However the Times & Citizen understands that the local Conservative Party have already discreetly sounded out alternative candidates to replace her.

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A spokesman for Ms Holloway said: “No announcement will be made over whether the current Bedfordshire police and crime commissioner is standing for re-election until the Conservative Party holds its selection process. This will not take place until a date which is yet to be determined.

“We understand that the party is currently concentrating on recruiting candidates for the local parliamentary seats.”

Kathryn Holloway succeeded Labour’s Olly Martins in the role, after he became the county’s first police and crime commissioner in 2012.

The role gives one person oversight over policing across an entire force. It is an elected position, with the next elections due in 2020. There are also proposals to give the commissioners control of the fire service.

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However the elections have been marked by a lack of interest from voters, with less than a quarter of the electorate - 23.7 per cent - voting in 2016. Ms Holloway received just over a third of the vote, meaning she was only the first choice of around one in 11 electors in Bedfordshire.

This was actually an improvement on the turnout in 2012, when barely one in six voters went to the polling booths.