Voters in Hertfordshire have elected another Conservative to be their Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC).
Jonathan Ash-Edwards replaces David Lloyd, the only PCC that Hertfordshire has known, who chose not to stand again in the election on Thursday (May 2) after serving three terms since the role was created in 2012.
Mr Ash-Edwards got 93,658 votes for the Tories, with Liberal Democrat Sean Prendergast securing 68,264, just ahead of Labour’s Tom Plater third on 66,585 votes and the Green Party’s Matthew Fisher fourth of the four candidates with 26,714 votes.
The turnout was 29.3%, compared to 37.4% at the last election in 2021 – which was delayed for a year because of Covid-19 and was held on the same day as county council elections – and 29% in 2016.
The winning Tory had 36.70% of the votes cast, the Lib Dem 26.75%, Labour 26.09% and the Green 10.47%.
In 2021 – when a Supplementary Vote system, giving residents two votes each, was used instead of first past the post – Conservative Mr Lloyd received 155,144 votes (48.54%), Liberal Democrat Sam North 87,524 (27.38%) and Labour’s Philip Ross 76,941 (24.07%) in the first round of the count. In the second round, with Mr Ross eliminated, Mr Lloyd beat Mr North 167,905 (55.3%) to 135,696 (44.7%).
The Herts PCC's role is to hold the local police force to account. Duties included appointing the chief constable, setting the budget and deciding how much council tax precept to charge local people; in the current 2024-25 financial year, the typical band D household pays the PCC £251 for policing in the county against a national average of £268.
Before he moved to Hertsmere with his partner, Mr Ash-Edwards was a councillor in and around Haywards Heath for 16 years, where he was leader of Mid Sussex District Council from 2019 to 2023. His election rivals are all councillors in Herts: the Lib Dem and Labour candidates both serve Letchworth on North Herts District Council while the Green is a St Albans City and District Council member.
Before he was elected, Mr Ash-Edwards had said that he hoped to build on Mr Lloyd’s legacy.
“Hertfordshire’s got more police officers than ever before, and that’s a really positive thing in terms of what people primarily want, which is to see more police officers in their communities,” he said.
“That has happened with Hertfordshire paying one of the lowest shares of police precept council tax in the country. More police, safer streets, value for money – I think they are all good measures.”
According to Home Office figures, 2,083 officers were employed in front-line roles across the county on March 31 last year, up from 1,891 in 2010 and 1,667 in 2015.
Mr Ash-Edwards said the county was “ahead of the curve” in its prevention work.
“David’s got a really positive legacy that he’s handing on,” he said.
“Victims of crime come from all backgrounds and have all sorts of experiences, but the one thing they all have in common is not wanting to have been a victim in the first place, so if you can work upstream to prevent crimes and have fewer victims, then that’s a really good thing.
“The work that’s begun in Hertfordshire is really positive and something I’d like to develop and do more on. Crime prevention, reducing demand on policing, will mean police can be visible in communities.”
Mr Ash-Edwards added: “In my inbox and in conversations with residents, I want to really focus on the response to burglary. There are still too many victims of burglary.
“I want to make sure the response from the police is more than just a crime number – it’s about following every line of enquiry and, where there’s a hotspot, grasping it.”
PCCs must work in co-operation with county, district and borough councils, according to the law which set up the role. Mr Ash-Edwards said the role “is about joint working and intervention”.
He said: “There are many services that interact with people, sometimes in a pathway towards crime or becoming a victim.
“For example, in most cases, someone having a mental health crisis, the worst thing you can do is have a police officer turn up. There’s a national package called Right Care, Right Person trying to move that mental health call back into the NHS, where it should be.
“One of the great opportunities that having a single individual, elected by the public with a mandate, gives you is the ability to bring all that together.”
Mr Ash-Edwards added: “The PCC isn’t a police officer. They are responsible for the strategic direction of policing, the priorities, the budgets, the holding to account – those are different skill sets which I have got experience in doing.
“My background is public service. I’ve always been someone who believes in giving back to the community and believes in getting stuck in and ensuring we have really good public services.”
