Tory voted first Essex police and crime commissioner (From Gazette)

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

Broadwaywatch wrote:
Never did quite honestly understand any of it. No one knocked on my door. no one stopped me in the street, no one sent me a letter all I got was a polling card..
Who ever this Nick Alston is I wish him well in his new, I presume well paid position.
With due respect to my Alston I feel that the whole excercise was a waste of puplic money which if needed to be spent on this could well have waited untill we were out of finacial restraints the majority of this county and indeed country, is under

firedog wrote:
Was their a truely independant candidate,or were they all after a nice little well payed easy casual job.

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Olivia2847 wrote:

Broadwaywatch wrote:
Never did quite honestly understand any of it. No one knocked on my door. no one stopped me in the street, no one sent me a letter all I got was a polling card..
Who ever this Nick Alston is I wish him well in his new, I presume well paid position.
With due respect to my Alston I feel that the whole excercise was a waste of puplic money which if needed to be spent on this could well have waited untill we were out of finacial restraints the majority of this county and indeed country, is under

An obscene swandering of our money that could have be put to better use as in local education and health - shame on all you I hope you choke on the biscuits at your first meeting ....

southendcivilservant wrote:
Does anyone care?

ShrimperSS0 wrote:
Well I'll admit that I didn't take part in the political process to elect a new police chief but I do have an excuse... I DIDN'T GET A POLLING CARD EVEN THOUGH AM ON THE ELECTORAL ROLL! So thank you either (Tory) Southend or (Tory) Essex for not letting me not vote for the Tory who won.

emcee wrote:
Policing under a political banner is all bad news in my opinion. I did not vote purely for this reason. I do not disagree with having one person, answerable to the public, in which the police chiefs of each force, in turn, have to answer to. I do not even care who is the commisioner of police as long as he/she is not politically motivated and are able to take the police chiefs and the Government of the day to task.
Unfortunately, politicising the police only plays into the hands of the party/Government who has a commisioner affiliated to them. This is no good for policing as a whole and we will now see different police forces around the country being run with completely differing agendas from each other.

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

Druggie Scumbag wrote:

firedog wrote:
Was their a truely independant candidate,or were they all after a nice little well payed easy casual job.

They would rather have been English language teachers but decided that the pressure would have been too much.

setbuilder wrote:

ShrimperSS0 wrote:
Well I'll admit that I didn't take part in the political process to elect a new police chief but I do have an excuse... I DIDN'T GET A POLLING CARD EVEN THOUGH AM ON THE ELECTORAL ROLL! So thank you either (Tory) Southend or (Tory) Essex for not letting me not vote for the Tory who won.

You don't need a polling card to vote!

Max Impact wrote:
My first choice was Mick Thwaites as being ex Chief at Southend Police I thought he would be the best possible choice, having served in the police he would know what is needed where it is needed, send was lucky dip just cloded eyes and struck out with the pen!

To all those that did not vote, it was not because you did not recieve any leaflets, I did not get any myself so I took the time to look on the internet, your posting on here so you MUST have accress to it too.

A large part of it was pure lazyness, heck you could register to do it by post and just pop it back in the post and not worry about finding the time on the actual day to go and vote.

Still puzzled by the Boris stating:

"All those who fail to vote are automatically deemed to have voted for whoever won. In this case, the Tory"

No they did not vote pure and simple, the Tory did not gain any votes from those that did not vote, nor did the Labour, or anyone they were unused votes nothing more, as for the spoilt papers they were wasted votes.

I'm sure on the News a Labour winner moaned that it was a waste of time and unwanted position so why stand!

Shoebury_Cyclist wrote:

Max Impact wrote:
My first choice was Mick Thwaites as being ex Chief at Southend Police I thought he would be the best possible choice, having served in the police he would know what is needed where it is needed, send was lucky dip just cloded eyes and struck out with the pen!

To all those that did not vote, it was not because you did not recieve any leaflets, I did not get any myself so I took the time to look on the internet, your posting on here so you MUST have accress to it too.

A large part of it was pure lazyness, heck you could register to do it by post and just pop it back in the post and not worry about finding the time on the actual day to go and vote.

Still puzzled by the Boris stating:

"All those who fail to vote are automatically deemed to have voted for whoever won. In this case, the Tory"

No they did not vote pure and simple, the Tory did not gain any votes from those that did not vote, nor did the Labour, or anyone they were unused votes nothing more, as for the spoilt papers they were wasted votes.

I'm sure on the News a Labour winner moaned that it was a waste of time and unwanted position so why stand!

A spoilt paper is not a wasted vote. It is someone saying, 'I'd like to vote but none of these represent my views'. It is time voting was made compulsory in the UK and a box added for 'None of the above'.

Shoebury_Cyclist wrote:

Max Impact wrote:
My first choice was Mick Thwaites as being ex Chief at Southend Police I thought he would be the best possible choice, having served in the police he would know what is needed where it is needed, send was lucky dip just cloded eyes and struck out with the pen!

To all those that did not vote, it was not because you did not recieve any leaflets, I did not get any myself so I took the time to look on the internet, your posting on here so you MUST have accress to it too.

A large part of it was pure lazyness, heck you could register to do it by post and just pop it back in the post and not worry about finding the time on the actual day to go and vote.

Still puzzled by the Boris stating:

"All those who fail to vote are automatically deemed to have voted for whoever won. In this case, the Tory"

No they did not vote pure and simple, the Tory did not gain any votes from those that did not vote, nor did the Labour, or anyone they were unused votes nothing more, as for the spoilt papers they were wasted votes.

I'm sure on the News a Labour winner moaned that it was a waste of time and unwanted position so why stand!

A spoilt paper is not a wasted vote. It is someone saying, 'I'd like to vote but none of these represent my views'. It is time voting was made compulsory in the UK and a box added for 'None of the above'.

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

Shoebury_Cyclist wrote:
If this was not a political appointment, and candidates had to swear an oath of impartiality, why were they standing as tory, Labour, LibDem, Ukip, INdependent etc?

Brunning999 wrote:

Shoebury_Cyclist wrote:
If this was not a political appointment, and candidates had to swear an oath of impartiality, why were they standing as tory, Labour, LibDem, Ukip, INdependent etc?

For once we agree.

What a joke how can you vote for a guy that is working for a government that has done more to harm Essex Police than any Government since 1840.

It is madness the people that voted for Alston have just blindly voted for a party representative that is unable to improve anything with a 20% cut.

Crazy, crazy Tory voters.

Broadwaywatch wrote:
Never did quite honestly understand any of it. No one knocked on my door. no one stopped me in the street, no one sent me a letter all I got was a polling card..
Who ever this Nick Alston is I wish him well in his new, I presume well paid position.
With due respect to my Alston I feel that the whole excercise was a waste of puplic money which if needed to be spent on this could well have waited untill we were out of finacial restraints the majority of this county and indeed country, is under

Jatamab wrote:
There was information out there if you read the local free papers, or checked the websites, some people are forgetting that for a normal election it is for a very small area, so the candidates have the capacity to canvass their whole patch, this election was for for the whole of Essex, a massive area! The Tory was lucky enough to have a large established network and substantial financial backing, the independant Mick Thwaites did so well and had people voting for him as a credible candidate with real understanding and knowledge of the huge organisation this role involves. Can Alston say the same?

setbuilder wrote:

emcee wrote:
Policing under a political banner is all bad news in my opinion. I did not vote purely for this reason. I do not disagree with having one person, answerable to the public, in which the police chiefs of each force, in turn, have to answer to. I do not even care who is the commisioner of police as long as he/she is not politically motivated and are able to take the police chiefs and the Government of the day to task.
Unfortunately, politicising the police only plays into the hands of the party/Government who has a commisioner affiliated to them. This is no good for policing as a whole and we will now see different police forces around the country being run with completely differing agendas from each other.

You could have voted for an independent - there were two! Don't vote, can't complain!

asbo industries inc wrote:
yeah right. independent as a hog on ice. just look at southend council politics

Nebs wrote:
When do we get to vote for the Essex judge and sentencing commissioner.

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

newcommuter wrote:
The word many posters have been grasping for is "omnishambles".

I have a little more faith in the PCs, I don't think they will lie down and take it when it becomes political. They know that they police by consent and rely on public support, they have a real mandate from the electorate. Perhaps the anti trade union posters will come to thank the Police Federation for standing up for their interests, which no current political party seems able to do.

setbuilder wrote:

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

Poor excuse. You're on-line now and all the details from the candidates have been on-line for some time.
The only people who might be excused for not voting are those who are computer-illiterate.

Saxonpride wrote:

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

I am not a member of the Conservative party. I admit to voting for Cameron in the general elections, but it was because of his pledge to give us a British bill of rights and introduce prison barges to deal with overcrowding.

Let us just say that I am a liberal who believes in PUNISHING criminals instead of 'understanding' them.

You say I have politicised this issue? How so? I feel the responsibility to vote. I will not fault anyone here for not doing so. You must all act according to your own conscience.
But I personally have a zeal and passion for the democratic process. And in this election, the Conservative was the only one who seemed to have the experience necessary to take Essex back from the vandals and pond-life who have made life unbearable in areas like Canvey Island.

I did not vote for him because he was a Conservative. It may shock you to learn that I have become disenchanted with Cameron and view him as an arrogant, vicious paper tyrant. Trying to privatise both the police and the NHS, threatening the sanctity of the Ecuadorian embassy, insulting our European allies, pimping out his office via Peter Cruddas. I have grown to HATE our Prime Minister. I wish that wasn't so, but it is.

I voted for Alston based purely on the easily-accesible statements each candidate made. It was a pragmatic decision, not one motivated by any kind of partisan bias.

upset wrote:

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

You can turn your aerial round to receive London news that covers our Island John.

upset wrote:

John T Pharro wrote:

Saxonpride wrote:

trell wrote:
Well done to all the people who didn't vote, and all those who voted for Mr. Alston. - Congratulations! You've contributed to the politicization of Essex Police.
Expect more Home Office bureaucracy and further Government cuts as this Tory stooge reinforces Theresa May's unrealistic and shambolic decisions.

It was either Alston or the criminal coddling Labour candidate. To say nothing of the flag-waving imbecile from the English Democrats.
I was convinced by Alston's military service, his actions in Northern Ireland and the comparative incompetence of his rivals.
I voted for him and I won't apologise for it.

Well Saxonpride you know more about the candidates than I do. I had no literature, nothing on the TV of course, because us on Canvey can only get Kent and Sussex not our local TV.
You are a wonderful advert for the reason so many are sceptical. You have made it political. That is despite the Commissioner having to swear an oath of being impartial.
So are you are your a typical Tory supporter and/or party member? If you are the latter trust they will distance themselves from you and kick you out of their party.
For the first time ever I did not vote because I had no idea about any of the candidates.

It's the Echo that made this political with their headline John.

Aint it just the truth wrote:
The Tories are off with the fairies if they think anyone really cares about Police Commissioners or gay marriage, what does concern people is the recession, lack of growth, the banks not lending money, ridiculous differentials and Camerons war on the poor. At this rate the Tories don't stand a chance of re-election for decades. Then again Labour are just as bad as they would drag us even further into the claws of the EU. Grrr!

John T Pharro wrote:

Aint it just the truth wrote: The Tories are off with the fairies if they think anyone really cares about Police Commissioners or gay marriage, what does concern people is the recession, lack of growth, the banks not lending money, ridiculous differentials and Camerons war on the poor. At this rate the Tories don't stand a chance of re-election for decades. Then again Labour are just as bad as they would drag us even further into the claws of the EU. Grrr!

"Off with the fairies" or off on cannabis?

Aint it just the truth wrote:

John T Pharro wrote:

Aint it just the truth wrote: The Tories are off with the fairies if they think anyone really cares about Police Commissioners or gay marriage, what does concern people is the recession, lack of growth, the banks not lending money, ridiculous differentials and Camerons war on the poor. At this rate the Tories don't stand a chance of re-election for decades. Then again Labour are just as bad as they would drag us even further into the claws of the EU. Grrr!

"Off with the fairies" or off on cannabis?

Silly comment John, or do you know something we don't? Since you mention it...MPs and politicians who have publicly admitted smoking cannabis, most of whom have supported decriminalisation legislation:- Peter Ainsworth, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, Hazel Blears, Andy Burnham, Charles Clarke, Vernon Coaker, Yvette Cooper, Bruce Crawford, Alistair Darling, John Denham, Fergus Ewing, Caroline Flint, Harriet Harman, John Hutton, Fiona Hyslop, Bernard Jenkin, Boris Johnson, Jon Owen Jones, Ruth Kelly, Susan Kramer, Oliver Letwin, Tricia Marwick, Tony McNulty, Francis Maude, Stewart Maxwell, Mo Mowlam, Archie Norman, Shona Robison, Jacqui Smith, Nicola Sturgeon, Matthew Taylor, David Willetts, Tim Yeo, And then there is David Cameron who has stated he is in favour of medicinal cannabis but refuses to comment on stories in the press that he has used cannabis and cocaine.

Aint it just the truth wrote:
This is the wrong thread for this but are you seriously saying that Mo Mowlam was a fool?

Ossiepith wrote:
I see Mr Alston managed to obtain just under 5% of the vote. Some mandate!

Sdapeze wrote:
I found it at the East Anglian site. Other candidates who ran for the £85,000 job were Labour’s Val Morris-Cook, who secured 27,926 of first preference votes; Linda Belgrove (Independent) with 22,163; Andrew Smith (UKIP) with 15,138 and Robin Tilbrook (English Democrats) with 11,550. So no surprises there then.

Boris wrote:

Ossiepith wrote: I see Mr Alston managed to obtain just under 5% of the vote. Some mandate!

All the people who failed to vote were in fact stating they were happy with whoever won. So Mr Alston in fact had an overwhelming majority.

Boris wrote:
I should have added: Is it known how much money the Essex Tories threw at this election? I actually got a leaflet from Mr Alston, the only candidate who distributed one in my area. Which leading Tory used his Essex County Council credit card to pay the printer's bill?

jayman wrote:
someone has yet to explain to me what the fundamental point to all this was.. is there any extra money going to the police force... no will there be laws the police no longer have to enforce and investigate... no will there be any extra police officers.... no will there be new laws for the police to enforce due to all this.... no is it just another chip of responsibility/accou ntability that has been torn off the back of a very unpopular government... yes,