Labour candidate Nicolle Ndiweni has been elected as the new Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner and she will now work to help set police priorities for the county and a policing budget while ensuring local and national priorities are suitably resourced as they monitor the force’s performance.
The previous Conservative Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner Angelique Foster, who was elected in 2021, will now stand down as she and other candidates including Reform UK’s Russell Armstrong and Liberal Democrat David Hancock lost out.
Ms Ndiweni won 93,260 votes and Angelique Foster got 65,293, and Reform UK’s Russell Armstrong got 32,944, and David Hancock got 22,540, after the voter turnout was recorded to be 26.9per cent and the result was announced on May 3 following a count at Derby Arena, on Royal Way.
The Derbyshire Police and Crime Commissioner election was part of Local Elections taking place across England and Wales involving the election of councillors at 107 local authorities, 11 regional mayors, and 37 Police and Crime Commissioners and a Westminster by-election, in Blackpool South, on May 2.
Ms Ndiweni said: “The people of Derbyshire have spoken and decided on a change – and it’s been a long time of the same old – and we are hoping for something different and hopefully Labour will achieve just that.”
She added that she is looking forward to working with residents and councillors to achieve a safer and stronger Derbyshire for its communities.
Labour’s Nicolle Ndiweni, who has a criminology degree and has served as a district councillor managing a Safer and Stronger Communities portfolio, has stated that she has listened to Derbyshire residents and she understands and shares their community safety and policing concerns.
She added that she aims to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour, protect residents, increase policing in neighbourhoods, prosecute more offenders, and to partner with key organisations while ensuring a police presence in communities and restoring public trust.
Conservative Angelique Foster, who is also a Derbyshire County Councillor, had stated she has delivered on promises by recruiting extra police officers, increasing police patrols, keeping police stations open and by introducing a tougher approach to crime but it had not been enough to retain the role of crime commissioner.
Reform UK candidate and entrepreneur Russell Armstrong, from Derby, had stated that he had wanted to restore trust between the community and officers through hard work and real service and reduce red tape.
And Liberal Democrat David Hancock, who is a NE Derbyshire District Councillor, from Tupton near Chesterfield, had stated that he had wanted to take up the position of commissioner because of his first-hand experience of the very different issues affecting people across Derbyshire.
The newly-elected Commissioner will be responsible for setting an annual budget, putting a five-year Police and Crime Plan together, setting the amount of council tax to be paid to the police force, setting police priorities, and providing community safety grants, publishing an annual report and ensuring value for money.
She will also be responsible for taking into account national policing challenges such as counter terrorism and cross-border policing set out in a new Strategic Policing Requirement.
Priorities, outlined by Derbyshire Constabulary and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, include addressing domestic abuse, sexual abuse, violence against women and girls, supporting victims, addressing anti-social behaviour and serious violence, and providing safer streets and safeguarding children and youngsters.
The Local Elections had been billed as a barometer on wider political allegiance across England and Wales after the Conservative Government’s popularity has been falling in national polls after it has been struggling on key issues like the economy, migration, and the NHS.
By the afternoon of May 3, every political party appeared to have made some sort of gains winning council seats across England and Wales apart from the Conservatives who were looking at growing losses.
