Conservative Marc Jones has been elected for a third term as Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner.
Mr Jones fought off competition from ex-police officers Mike Horder (Labour) and David Dickason (English Democrats), as well as West Lindsey District Council deputy leader Lesley Rollings (Liberal Democrats) and cybersecurity consultant Peter Escreet (Reform UK).
He won by a majority of just under 8,000 votes, with Labour’s Mike Horder finishing second with 31,931, Reform’s Peter Escreet in third with 15,518, the Liberal Democrat Lesley Rollings fourth with 13,380 and English Democrat David Dickason fifth with 7,739.
Mr Jones’ 39,639 votes was way down on the 102,813 he received in 2021 when he received 60 per cent of the vote and had a 63,174 majority.
Mike Horder polled 2,379 less votes than Labour candidate Rosanne Kirk did in 2021.
Turnout dipped below 20 per cent for the second time in the history of the role, and the 19.08 per cetnn figure made it the second lowest in Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner elections — the first took place in 2012 (2021 was 31.25 per cent per cent, 2016 was 20.7 per cent, 2012 was 15.28 per cent).
Peter Escreet stood for a second time for Reform and more than doubled his votes from 6,101 last time while the Liberal Democrat votes increased from 6,101.
Mr Jones picked up the most votes in South Holland, 4,556 compared with2593 for Mr Horder, 1844 for Mr Escreet, 986 for Mrs Rollings and 968 for Mr Dickason.
The only district to vote differently was in Lincoln where Labour polled 8,041 votes compared with Mr Jones’ 4,695.
He will now enjoy a third term as Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, having first been elected in 2016.
“It feels very good that people have put their trust and confidence in me for a third term,” said Mr Jones “I’m excited with what we can do.
“We’ve got a new chief constable that I’ve enlisted, some ambitious plans as to how we can get some crime down and I’m really looking forward to delivering that over the next four years.
“I will work tirelessly to deliver what we set out to in my manifesto.
“I’m always very clear about what I want to deliver and it will be delivered.
“What I always stand on is the fact I’ve given my word and I will deliver it.”
Mike Horder, the Labour candidates said: “I think the people of Lincolnshire have spoken very, very loudly that they want their quality of service they deserve.
“That’s the lesson. People want their futures back.
“If you look at the figures it was a huge swing to Labour.
“Speaking to people on the doorsteps, they are getting fed up with this perpetual decline and they want a positive agenda that’s going to improve their lives.
“That’s what I and Labour people offer and people are starting to turn to that.
“I had lots of people telling me they’d voted Labour for the first time.”
Peter Escreet, the Reform candidate, said: “It’s definitely progress and close to what I expected.
“I must admit I was hoping for a change, just something different.
“But I was really happy with the support I got from Lincolnshire and I think the result we got was pretty good.
“It’ll be another four years of prepping.
“I think it’s important to highlight we’re going to see increasing council tax and crime, but not increasing numbers.
“We also need to highlight that people shouldn’t spoil ballots if you think it’s a waste of time, vote for me and we’ll scrap it.”
English Democrats candidate David Dickason said: “I’m disappointed as I was hoping to be able to make a difference in Lincolnshire, but will get what they voted for.
“It was a nice vote and I think a lot of people turned out. It’s given me something to think about for the next four years.
“I’ll probably be looking at the general election next.”
Lincolnshire PCC Elections 2024 results in full:
- Marc Jones (Conservative) — 39,639
- Mike Horder (Labour) — 31,931
- Peter Escreet (Reform UK) — 15,518
- Lesley Rollings (Liberal Democrats) — 13,380
- David Dickason (English Democrats) — 7,739
Reporting by Local Democracy Reporters.