New Lancashire police commissioner promises to visit East Lancs

11:48am Saturday 17th November 2012 in Blackburn

Clive Grunshaw celebrates with his supporters Clive Grunshaw celebrates with his supporters

LANCASHIRE’S new Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw promised to make visiting the East of the county a top priority minutes after being chosen in an election where less than a sixth of people voted.

He said he had a big task take on for everyone in the area despite the disappointing 15.5 per cent turnout in Thursday’s poll.

Fleetwood county councillor Mr Grunshaw, who will earn £85,000 a year, told the Lancashire Telegraph: “This is not a desk job. I shall be getting out and about the county engaging with people.

“I shall be coming to Blackburn, Burnley, Nelson, Rawtenstall and the rest of East Lancashire soon. This not about Preston it is about everybody across the whole of the county.

“My late father Dave was born in Blackburn and brought up Darwen so I know East Lancashire well.”

His deputy designate, Blackburn community leader and Labour politician, Ibrahim Masters, said: “I shall be standing beside him to make sure he lives up to his word and does not forget our area.”

Mr Grunshaw won the final vote off by 79,790 votes to Tory Tim Ashton’s 73,262, having failed to secure a clear 50 per cent majority on first preference ballots.

Related links

The other two candidates - Nelson Liberal Democrat Afzal Anwar and UKIP’s Robert Drobny - were eliminated after the first count.

Mr Grunshaw, who takes up his post on November 21, will then set a budget after the government announces its cash settlement for Lancashire Constabulary next month.

He will decide how much the county force adds to council tax bills to finance itself, and produce a crime and policing plan setting out his priorities. He will also have powers to hire and fire the chief constable.

Mr Grunshaw said: “We have seen major budget cuts already and we do not know what the government will allow us to spend in future. We have seen cuts in officers numbers and I can give no assurances about jobs.

“It is going to be a difficult job but my number one priority is the safety and security of the people of Lancashire. I will focus on making this role a successful one, ensuring the public gets the best possible service from Lancashire Constabulary and protecting the frontline."

Lancashire Chief Constable Steve Finnigan said: “My relationship with Clive is going to be a new one. I know Clive well from his two spells on the county police authority. We will work closely together but it will not be a cosy relationship. We have different roles.”

Blackburn Tory group leader Michael Lee said: “I am disappointed Tim Ashton did not win. The government made a mess of the election process and with the low turn-out I do not think Mr Grunshaw has a proper mandate.”

Pendle Liberal Democrat Lord Greaves said: “It was a disappointing but predictable turn out. The election was at the wrong time and badly-handled. We will support the new commissioner fully provided we think he is doing the right things.”

Senior Blackburn councillor Maureen Bateson said: “It was a disappointing but not surprising turn out. I am delighted Clive won and believe he can do a good job.”

Comments(26)

happycyclist says...
12:02pm Sat 17 Nov 12

I'm disappointed that the whole process has been so politicised.

Report this post »

Hovis1945 says...
12:06pm Sat 17 Nov 12

happycyclist wrote:
I'm disappointed that the whole process has been so politicised.
Also so un-democratic. If you want to be elected you should come and tell the people directly what you are standing for and not expecting the people you want to elect you to have to search for information.

Report this post »

A Darener says...
12:29pm Sat 17 Nov 12

His first job should be to donate his salary and departmental expenses to Lancashire police chief constable to employ more police.

Report this post »

woolywords says...
12:35pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Hovis1945 wrote:
happycyclist wrote:
I'm disappointed that the whole process has been so politicised.
Also so un-democratic. If you want to be elected you should come and tell the people directly what you are standing for and not expecting the people you want to elect you to have to search for information.
Wholly agree..
Where are these people from? Thier antecedants, for instance. Job related qualities?

The process smacked of political appointees right from the outset.
Still, on another day, we get a chance to rid us of this person, or not..
Am prepared to give him a fair crack at the job. Only time will tell..

Report this post »

Briantodd says...
2:09pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Actually all the candidates did come to ask any questions from anyone in Lancashire at a public meeting in Blackburn Cathedral, nly about 40 people turned up but you did have a chance to question each candidate

Report this post »

Briantodd says...
2:14pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Also our Government refused to deliver election addresses for this election which is why you did not get the usual infomration by post.
Our Governemnt expected everyone to have internet access easily available but this is simplu unrelistic with so may people on low incomes who can not afford internet access. As to experience the successful candidate has had many yearsxperince on the Lancashire Police Authority.
All of this does not mean I support the strange new structure which has been imposed upon us but at least let us get some of the facts right!!

Report this post »

HairyBowls says...
5:00pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Yes, insultingly undemocratic to the point of farce...

Report this post »

woolywords says...
5:50pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Briantodd wrote:
Actually all the candidates did come to ask any questions from anyone in Lancashire at a public meeting in Blackburn Cathedral, nly about 40 people turned up but you did have a chance to question each candidate
Brian,
and just when was this meeting held?
Was it, I venture to suggest, when most common hard-working peoples were at work?
It is the usual scheme of things, to evade any probative questioning..
Advertised well in the fine print of the local newspaper, barely gaining a word, to the many that read online..

Report this post »

Briantodd says...
6:04pm Sat 17 Nov 12

No it was at 7.00 p.m. on 1st November in Blackburn CAthedral and to the best of my knowledeg was organised on behalf fo everyone in Lancashire by a group called "Third Sector Lancashire"
Please excuse bad spelling sometimes my thiking get ahead of my fingers!!!!!

Report this post »

woolywords says...
6:20pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Is it just me, or is the news being sanitised in Blackburn?
Are we, the public, not being given our chance to express our opinions upon certain articles, especially if they involve the 20 per cent or more of our populace, through editorial selection.
Do bear in mind that, when you silence the many, you also deny the rights of the few, to speak out in condemnation. This may give rise to an opinion that they, the minority, are silently allowing the crimes, whereas they are being muffled in the name of political correctness gone mad.
May I suggest that you only publish online, those articles that you will allow people to vent their spleen at and not, as is the current case, where controversial articles either have no comments permitted, or are subsequently removed when they appear to be somewhat explicit.
One only has to read the vitriol written in the comment columns both before, during and after Steve Kean was in charge at BRFC, in comparision to any news story in the common ground, to realise that something mysterious is going on within LT editorial sections when it comes to the news of the day.

Any person convicted of drugs related crimes should be both named, shamed and a photo published, so that others of the same ilk will know that justice is being done. An invitation to comment may elucidate, anonymously, names of those in the same ring, much as the Saville case has brought to light others.
Drug dealers, pedophiles and rapists have no place in our society and I'd have hoped that the LT would be a stalwart in wanting to expose them all, instead of this ultra-political correctness that both gives shelter to the guilty and gags the abused victim.

Report this post »

woolywords says...
6:38pm Sat 17 Nov 12

Third Sector Lancashire, a name that conjures up the whole democratic process and encapsulates the double-speak of local governance..
With the misson of..a consortium of infrastructure groups which constitute its Board, with an independent Chair together with administrative support from the Lancashire Association of Councils for Voluntary Service..
and.. to support, represent and be a voice for third sector bodies in the County of Lancashire in their dealings with the public and private sector.

Forgive me for being a bit thick here..just which part of Blackburn are these self-serving Preston people from?
Care to expalin why I'm the only person on my street to have a copy of the intended elections, which I gained through friendship with a local councillor, and that my friend in Great Harwood is still waiting to hear when the elections will take place and who is standing?
No doubt I shall learn more when my submission for voting patterns gains a reply from the Electoral Reform Society, in due course.

Report this post »

Briantodd says...
6:46pm Sat 17 Nov 12

I understood everyone was sent the leaflet about the electins. So everybody in your street should have had one deliverd by Roayal MAil.
It did not actually say much but, as I said, all the candidates were on a web site a couple of weeks before the election, although this does prevent the majority of people finding out it is what our coalition government allowed

Report this post »

pwitch says...
8:29pm Sat 17 Nov 12

I dont know anybody who received a leaflet other than my sister-in-law in Bury and when she rang up the number on the voting card they told her to expect the leaflet in 5 to 7 days - what a joke. We were away on holiday till a few days before the voting so if we were no on the internet we stood no chance of receiving any information other than from the Labour party who sent blurb about their candidate. Presumably that publicity paid off.

Report this post »

jack daniels says...
9:17pm Sat 17 Nov 12

LANCASHIRE’S new Police and Crime Commissioner Clive Grunshaw promised to make visiting the East of the county a top priority

Well, it would be difficult not to considering it's his bl00dy job.

(unnamed business) current employee, Jack Daniels, promised to make visiting his day job a top priority

Report this post »

mavrick says...
9:22pm Sat 17 Nov 12

I wonder what the financial settlement will be for Labour commissionaire as to Tory areas. To say the post of commissionaire is non political is as funny as the whole shambles.

Report this post »

greenscreener says...
10:22pm Sat 17 Nov 12

mavrick wrote:
I wonder what the financial settlement will be for Labour commissionaire as to Tory areas. To say the post of commissionaire is non political is as funny as the whole shambles.
I think is was depressing to see that political party affiliation was the differentiating factor in identifying our candidates. I understand that independent candidates, probably those who were interested in the issue of policing rather than politics, proved very popular when they stood in other regions.

Report this post »

jenkinsroy says...
5:54am Sun 18 Nov 12

how is clive grunshaw?
i have never herd of him
and i bet must of colne
has not herd of him??
that is why the turn out
was so bad and by what
he sayes here nobody
in colne will ever see him
as he is not coming this far
down pendle where we all
live.
sorry colne you are
not on my books to visit
only burnley/blackburn/ne
lson
and the rest.
that sayes to me
that the Policeing and Crime
will stay the same for us colne
fork?? no wonder no body
turn out to vote
p.s where does he live any body
know????

Report this post »

english rose 1 says...
4:01pm Sun 18 Nov 12

Let's get the FACTS right about this election.

1) the election of a Police Commissioner was included in the Conservative Party general election manifesto in 2010. All those voting Tory in effect voted for a Police Commissioner election. No other party wanted this, and the vast majority of police representative bodies, the Police Authorities & the local Govt Assoc were all against elections.
*
2) The Lib-Dems accepted the Tory policy and the election was included in the Coalition Agreement.
*
3) The electoral commission (and everyone else) told the Government that a stand alone election in November with no national literature would be a disaster. The Govt did not listen and surprise surprise turnout was pathetic and knowledge of the election / role of Commissioner virtually nil.
*
4) The Govt goes around telling everyone that the country is hard up yet wastes £102m on an election hardly anybody wanted and knew would be a complete flop.
*
5) Political parties did not have the resources to deliver leaflets to every house in Lancashire. The Govt (as is customery in national elections) did not provide a free mailing.
*
6) Everyone knows that a single person cannot hope to represent a whole county with over a million population. The Constituencies are way too big. The winning Independent candidate in Kent had to spend about £70.000 of her own money to get out leaflets !
*
7) Very few people apart from TV stars are known on such a wide basis as a whole County. Therefore Grunshaw will be known to those in the Fleetwood area (where he is a Councillor) and similarly Ashton (in Lytham) and the Lib-Dem in Nelson. Unless an individual is wealthy (as in Kent) there is no way he/she can be known to everyone throughout Lancashire.

The blame for this shambolic elections rests solely with the Conservatives and their coalition partners the Lib-Dems who accepted the Tory policy as part of the Coalition agreement.

Report this post »

english rose 1 says...
4:01pm Sun 18 Nov 12

Let's get the FACTS right about this election.

1) the election of a Police Commissioner was included in the Conservative Party general election manifesto in 2010. All those voting Tory in effect voted for a Police Commissioner election. No other party wanted this, and the vast majority of police representative bodies, the Police Authorities & the local Govt Assoc were all against elections.
*
2) The Lib-Dems accepted the Tory policy and the election was included in the Coalition Agreement.
*
3) The electoral commission (and everyone else) told the Government that a stand alone election in November with no national literature would be a disaster. The Govt did not listen and surprise surprise turnout was pathetic and knowledge of the election / role of Commissioner virtually nil.
*
4) The Govt goes around telling everyone that the country is hard up yet wastes £102m on an election hardly anybody wanted and knew would be a complete flop.
*
5) Political parties did not have the resources to deliver leaflets to every house in Lancashire. The Govt (as is customery in national elections) did not provide a free mailing.
*
6) Everyone knows that a single person cannot hope to represent a whole county with over a million population. The Constituencies are way too big. The winning Independent candidate in Kent had to spend about £70.000 of her own money to get out leaflets !
*
7) Very few people apart from TV stars are known on such a wide basis as a whole County. Therefore Grunshaw will be known to those in the Fleetwood area (where he is a Councillor) and similarly Ashton (in Lytham) and the Lib-Dem in Nelson. Unless an individual is wealthy (as in Kent) there is no way he/she can be known to everyone throughout Lancashire.

The blame for this shambolic elections rests solely with the Conservatives and their coalition partners the Lib-Dems who accepted the Tory policy as part of the Coalition agreement.

Report this post »

Briantodd says...
8:37pm Sun 18 Nov 12

As "English Rose" only the Conservative Party indicated anything about elected Police adn Crme Comissioners. To the best of my knowledeg the Conservative Party did not actually obtain a mandate from the electorate and the "coalition Agreement" was never pout to electors at any time so this election had a very flisy justification.
Had teh Conservative Party recived overwhelming support from the whole elctorat, or at least enough for them to have teh majority of seats in Parliament tehn they would be justified in forcing this upon us. AS it is they should not have imposed their demands upon the whole electoate without the support of teh electorat, although, in my view, what the coaltion is doing has had no electoral supprt at all!!!!!!

Report this post »

jenkinsroy says...
5:37am Mon 19 Nov 12

i see that no one knows
where the hell
he comes from at all
he is just there to take the
crap that all Lancashire
from colne/nelson/ex!
will give him insted of
giveing it to the goverment
we whant more police officers
not someone how will not do any
thing about crime at all
get ride him and spend the money
on more police

Report this post »

Izanears says...
11:07am Mon 19 Nov 12

I wonder why the words quid pro quo come to mind when I aw the photo.

Report this post »

jenkinsroy says...
4:57am Tue 20 Nov 12

where are our police men & women
the crokes love this goverment
there is no one to stop them
running a muck now

Report this post »

jellybiff says...
2:34pm Tue 20 Nov 12

His deputy designate,so who is this person ???were we voting for more than one person ?????the gravy train just got longer .

Report this post »

Davelyn says...
4:02pm Tue 20 Nov 12

This area needs more shoe leather not brading.

Report this post »

Corsetmaker says...
11:12am Wed 21 Nov 12

call it 'wasted vote' etc. but I refused pointedly not to vote in this shambolic mess. The PCC posts trample all over the country's constitution (unlike other countries ours is not one single document, but we do have a constitution)
simplified the 'Separation of Powers' aimed to make sure that politics could not have any undue influence over the police which is EXACTLY what the ConDems have done, got councillors feet shoved firmly under the tables of the police, paying them handsomely to trickle down their desired policies into Police practices and policies at the whim, so in effect, they can bring out a new Act/Law and then exert lots of pressure and budget channelling into that (at the expense of, say Anti-Social Behaviour) because it makes them look good, and they can merrily spout more BS about how brilliant they are at their cosy (paid for) Party Political Conferences.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree