Lib Dem quits race to become first cop tsar
Crime
The Liberal Democrat candidate in the race to become the county’s first police commissioner has pulled out.
Ron Tindall, a former special constable and a member of Herts Police Authority, says he is dropping out to focus on his work as a county councillor representing Hemel Hempstead St Pauls.
“I’m out of the race,” he said. “I have stood down from the contest. What I have decided is that there’s so much going on countywide, there’s growing concern about the part-night lighting, there are issues cropping up everywhere, and we have county council elections next May.”
Mr Tindall had been through a three-stage process to become the Lib Dem candidate, including a ballot of party members, when he decided to quit.
Lib Dem spokesman Nik Alatortsev said: “There is a back-up candidate but they need to go through the internal party process.”
Meanwhile, Labour candidate Sherma Batson is calling on David Lloyd, the Conservative Party hopeful, to stand down from his current role as chairman of the police authority, which will be dissolved once the police commissioner is appointed.
Criticising moves by the authority to potentially hand some policing functions to security firm G4S, she said: “David Lloyd should have stepped down as chairman. I feel he has undue influence on the members of the authority. If I am elected, I will be looking at finding an alternative option to privatisation.”
The Lib Dems have also come out against outsourcing to G4S.
Mr Lloyd said it was important to smooth the transition between the old and new organisations and he would stay ‘until the last minute’. “One of the great things about me as a potential commissioner is I know the current role very well and I am very closely involved with the police,” he said. “I intend to stay in this role for as long as I can. Once the nominations officially open I will resign from the authority.”
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Sunday 19 May 2013
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