Blundering Kent Police

A couple of weeks a go a Conservative won a by-election for a seat on Medway Council. He is a headteacher and by all accounts a well-respected member of the community. A few days later he resigned and a by-election has been called to fill the vacancy.

It transpired that he resigned as he had been informed by Kent Police (I assume the Kent Police Authority) that, as he was a special constable, he could not be a councillor. My initial reaction was to question why he and the Conservative Party had not sorted this issue out before he stood for the election. Apparently they did and were informed there was no problem.

However, after the election the advice from the Police changed and the new councillor had to decide if he wished to remain a councillor or a special constable. He chose the latter.

But there is a further twist to the story. After he resigned the Police decided that there is no legal basis to preclude a special constable from being a councillor. What a shambles.

It has been suggested by a fellow Conservative councillor that the individual at the centre of this crisis should stand again and that opposition parties should not contest the election. Two reasons are advanced. The first is that the cause of the resignation can be laid clearly at the door of Kent Police. The second reason is that an uncontested election will not cost any money.

I understand the reasoning, but feel that there should be a contest and that its focus should be to put Kent Police (Authority) in the spotlight.

So far I have seen no comment from Ann Barnes, the Chair of the Kent Police Authority, who is for ever regaling the press with stories of how wonderful the Police Authority is and how unnecessary it is to replace her with an elected police commissioner.

The buck stops with her. She should resign, but I doubt if she will. The electorate will not have an opportunity to pass judgement on the crass ineptitude over which she presides. An elected police commissioner would have to run the gauntlet of the electorate.