Police and Crime Commissioner elections
 

Police and crime commissioners | Home Office

Strange how this has gone under the radar in the media. I don't recall reading much about it until I clicked a link on the LT page.

Need to be have 100 signatures and £5000 to risk...but the job pays £85000 a year....

Anyone up for it? ;)

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Yeah I am 'erm just lend me 5K.
Cheaper than a job training course.

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Spent the last half hour or so reading the bumf, seems to me it's another 'jobs for the boys' post, where yet more bureaucrats without any significant power, attend a few meetings, make a prepared speech or two, write the occasional review and are paid from the taxation pit.

Don't expect parking on Blackburn Road or clearing the town centre of undesirables will figure highly on the agenda.

And Less, if you'd asked me earlier I'd have lent you the £5k but the wife just cleaned me out on a blue rinse and voting for some talentless muppet on Strictly X factor

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Not a problem, I couldn't have given a decent speech, or written a review without actually giving away the fact that I actually do give a damn, so I'm just not fit for the job.
:(

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Along with a pile of kebab adverts landing on my doormat, I've already received preliminary electioneering bumph which I haven't read except to take a cursory glance at one leaflet which gave a closing date if I wanted to vote by post and if so I had to give my date of birth.

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bungs bungs and more bungs .the countries skint supposedly but they still waste money on this:confused:

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...of course, there were none of these useless commissions, quangos and jobs for the boys when your lot were in power. :rolleyes:

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I believe the country to be bankrupt (Chapter 11 bankruptcy=beyond skint) ;)

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Bull -the peasants will always struggle along, The rich never will, but will bitch about hard times.;)

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In case you don't get the message.

The Lancashire Hotpots - Be Part of It! - YouTube

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How very jolly :rolleyes:

I wonder how much that propaganda cost us.

I get the impression that we are 'being talked down to' - anyone else feel that this is an insult to their intelligence?

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Who wants a message like that?:rolleyes:

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1 word on Police and Crime Commissioner elections.....liability ;)

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I have only had the voting cards, but nothing at all from the candidates.......and with something like 3 weeks (or just a little over) that doesn't give much time to look at what they stand for.

Afzal Anwar - Liberal Democrats
Tim Ashton - Conservative
Robert Drobny - UK Independent Party
Clive Grunshaw - Labour
With nomiations now closed, the above is a list of candidates.
and the following link gives a very small potted history about each of them.
BBC News - Lancashire police and crime commissioner candidates

Impressive, it isn't.
This is just another layer of unwarranted bureaucracy....a ploy to let the public think they will have some control over the policing in their own little patch.
I know I am a cynical burger, but why do these men have to have a political affiliation?
Will their political affiliation appeal to the electors? Will it affect their stance on how the police do their job?
Personally I doubt that they will have any effect, other than that of draining the pot of money, for what should be spent on 'feet on the street'.

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To put it bluntly which is not my thing. "Its the biggest load of tits since sabrina":rolleyes:

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More bull than a X factor final ;)

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It appears that two are failed parliamentary candidates, one of whom is a criminal defence lawyer - he comes bottom of my list. Of the other two, I would always wonder if one was rigidly following party lines despite what the electorate expect of him so I am probably going for the UKIP representative.
Somewhat surprising that in the whole of Lancashire there is nobody prepared to stand as an individual without party affiliations?

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I am very disappointed to see all these people are members of a political party. I was not expecting that politics was anything to do with the job. I like the whole idea even less than I did before.

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The political angle may mean that they can be pressured or manipulated by their political 'friends'...and currently with the sleaze element in the world of politics, it doesn't give much hope that this will not spill over into this section of their work.

I don't think I will waste any shoe leather in making the walk down to Mercer House on the 15th of November....and this isn't from apathy.
If the candidates cannot be bothered to give us more about themselves, so that we can make some informed choices, then I won't be putting a cross in any of the boxes.

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I will not be voting either. The nearest candidate to us is a Barrister from Nelson

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This is vote is about as much use (if not less use) as the Euro MEP's elections..but maybe it might go down well in some leafy Tory low crime parts

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I'll vote for whoever is promising a pardon for the Pendle witches.

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Welcome back Mancie, thought yeh may be standing in these elections?:D;)

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Ta but think I'd struggle to get the 100 signatures..mind you if Less fancies his chances I'll sign up for him.. might get the Job Center off his back :D

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I know you would get at least 2 signatures:D

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Is that playing up to the Manky U supporters ? ;)

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OK.. so only 98 to go..I might nip down to Anfield and try to nick some off the local hero Suarez.:D

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Unfortunately they don't have that power.
I shall be marking my ballot paper "Wast of Money".

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Hardly seems right does it? Moving me from one well paid Government Job to another, far better they give the job to someone that has never contributed to the pot such as a professional politician! Cyfer, erm I mean Andrewb, have you got a spare lifetime I think we've just found your perfect career?

:)

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iv heard prisoner 346500 from preston prison is standing as he has hands on experience of various crimes

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You cannot stand for this office if you have ever been convicted of a crime......Simon Weston, (the falklands hero) was disbarred from standing because of something that he did in his teens.

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Cynicism about voting for this, and whether the position it wanted or not will make No. 1 on the list into a good bet by a large majority. Then what will happen, more power to the coloured brotherhood. Vote for any of the other three or suffer for it.

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I've never heard who's standing or what it is they would, could or even couldn't do, they don't care about my opinion so why should I care about them!

Why can't they earn their job like all other people do??

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Just read on twitter of a guy who's been working in a W.Yorks polling station for 8 hours...26 people have been in to vote. 1.5% turnout, wonder how many bad guys could have been caught using the money thats paid for this nonsense?

Speaking of twitter our Graham has been his usual arrogant self today, he had a minor spat with some guy from Belthorn and ended the argument with 'I'll be voting sensibly'....if the people of Hyndburn follow that advice at the next General he'll be out of work

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was not going to vote,then decided to go and put a spoit vote in,but decided to vote for ukip to get at the main parties as a protest,but still think that this has been a waste of time and money:mad:

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i went to vote .. only cos ive never missed voting since i was 18 ... and was told then that if i didnt go and vote it was a wasted chance and i wouldnt be able to complain about who was elected ... anyway i went up to stonefold school about 4.30pm .. and i asked if it had been busy .. he said no .. i was 24th person who went in to vote .... scary .....

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BBC News - Wiltshire PCC election: Conservative Angus Macpherson wins

So the first result is in...

Turnout = less than 16%
Of which the eventual winner got 36%

My shaky maths makes him a winner with less than 6% of the constituency voting him in. Which in turn means that 94% didn't vote him in

What this election has basically boiled down to is whoever has the largest extended family has earned a £70k salary. Guess it's one way to beat the scrapping of child benefit for large families ;)

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please bare in mind that grahams vote is likely to change at the last second regardless of what he says he will do.
.
i was going to run for commissioner of the police until i found out that meeting batman was not in the job description

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Judging from some of the comments I've read and seen on the TV news broadcasts where turnout has been as low as NIL (!) my polling station might buck the trend. A couple of voters followed me into the station and there were quite a few heading that way when I left. One noticeable thing was that we all had grey hair :D

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first time ever i didnt vote! waste of money,time,effort and of a salary, but who knows we could all be proved wrong?

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It has been estimated that the election in the 43 force areas cost £75-90M This would pay the salaries of 3,600 PCs.

In my village, 109 voted. Not me.

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bbc website reported this morning one polling station in doncaster had the massive total of 5 votes

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So theres only 5 idiots in Donny then.:D

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When I was a kid mum n dad had friends in Dunsville, when we used to visit I always thought we were going to dunceville lol

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Same here, I wonder, was it planned? Surely there should be more of an outcry claiming we just aren't responsible?

Or is this the introduction of the way all elections shall be conducted in future?

Tell 'em nowt then when they complain, it's their own fault?

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Good point Less, for once a conspiracy theory I can go along with!

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I must admit, it felt like that when I posted. Perhaps I owe Mags a big apology?

Maybe it's too late, OMG we're all DOOMED.

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wishfull thinking ..

it was because only 5 of them could spell "X"

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I didn't vote.....but I would've done if it had been a referendum on whether we should have Police and Crime Commissioners.

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I didn't vote. I didn't know enough about the candidates, well other than they want to be paid and they were all members of political parties...and most held some political position.
Why would we believe that they would do anything to improve policing.? Or that they would listen to the concerns of local people?(and anyway how local is local?)

The money that they are going to be paid would have been better spent in 'putting feet on the streets'.

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Anyway Lord Prescott...of two jags fame, failed in his bid to be elected to the role.

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Hmm..our guy, who, incidentally, couldn't even be bothered to give an acceptance/thank you speech to the mugs who put him there, polled 39% of the vote, even when they used their own bastardised version of proportional representation he only polled 52% of the vote.

Given that Parliament decided that you need 55% in the house to be considered a majority, shouldn't there be a second round of voting, or is that only for the political elite and not us plebs?

By their own criteria there should be another vote.

Won't hold my breath though.

Especially for you Margaret..a nice picture of prezzer

BREAKING: Prezza Knocked Out - Guy Fawkes' blog

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Lovely, I always enjoy seeing that fat, useless slob hacked off.

Elsewhere, quite a good turn out for UKIP in the Corby bye-election. Around 5000 votes, pushing the totally discredited LibDems into 4th place. Hopefully more people are waking up and refusing to be Con/Lab stooges anymore.

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UKIPs best ever result it said on 6-00 news, ;)

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Thanks Guinness......that will keep the children away from the fire...and the cats off the 'petty' wall.

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Seems like the big story is the low turn out. One polling station reports having not one voter show up.

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So Clive Grunshaw...a resident of Fleetwood is going to be our new Police and Crime Commissioner at a salary of £85,000 per annum.

Fleetwood...is that local? Will he understand the policing needs of Hyndburn?
More to the point will he be interested in the policing needs of anywhere other than his local (wyre borough) area. Call me cynical, but I don't think he will.

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We are serfs in a feudal system.

When you don't vote, you withold your consent to be governed.

The illusion of democracy can't be maintained when no votes are cast.

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Speak fer yerself, i aint no serf.:D

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Don't know if I could go along with the first two ... But the last one. I think I can handle that. The low, the abysmal voter turnouts speak of something more significant than apathy. It's kind of revolutionary.

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No doubt folks from Fleetwood would be saying the same if a Hyndburn resident had been elected. At least he is already a member of Lancashire Police Authority.

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I was told that the winner had to have 50% of the first votes cast - if this percentage wasn't reached then the 2nd choices would be taken into account.

BTW I see John Prescott didn't get in

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Yes, Sue I am sure they would....and your comment underlines why I think this position is useless....just a sop to let us think we can have any influence on how things will be managed.
The money would be better spent malking sure there is easy access to police services.
Small towns are having their police stations closed down.

I saw nothing from any of the candidates, and if I had not the facility to go online I would have known absolutely nothing about them...and what I found online was not particularly helpful.
The management of the election was abysmal. If the candidates appear(prior to election) to have no interest in the areas they are going to represent, then it doesn't give those whose votes they rely on, any confidence in voting for them.

Just my point of view.
And my reason for not voting...it wasn't apathy, but lack of relevant information to make a choice.

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yes, nice to see they couldnt be bothered spending any of their money on any sort of campaign, only ours on the salary, tv adverts, polling etc, woulld have been much better spent on the ground

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And the talk now is about throwing good money after bad. The electoral commission are going to start an enquiry as to why it was such a shoddy affair ?? Do they really need an enquiry ? 5 minutes with a pad & pencil, talking to real people, who live in the real world, will give them all the answers they need & so much more .................. unbelievable ! :mad:

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I am one of the few who did vote. I agree with everybody's thoughts about this, lack of information about the candidates, political affiliation, should there be such an appointment in the first place.

Was still puzzling as I got to the booth, however, there was one candidate who made a statement about something I agreed with and voted on that basis.

It was going to happen anyway and cast a vote on that premise, and also in respect to our ancestors who worked hard to give us a democratic government.

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I respect our ancestors who worked to give us a democratic government, but somewhere along the way it has gone badly wrong...I thought that democracy meant that you listened to the views of the electorate.....not disregarded them. I don't feel that the electorate are listened to...and that we are given these opportunities to make us think our input matters...when quite clearly it does not have any impact
On the front of the Lancashire Telegraph today it says 'LABOUR WIN POLICE POLL'

That is my biggest gripe.......that politics are being inserted into an organisation which should be above any political wranglings......that and the fact that this money should be being spent on 'putting feet on the street'.

It seems to me that the electorate have no confidence in the political parties...so it comes as no surprise at all that there was such an appalling low turn out.

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Not voting is the withdrawal of 'consent to be governed'

Consent of the governed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Consent of the governed" is a phrase synonymous with a political theory where in a government's legitimacy and moral right to use state power is only justified and legal when derived from the people or society over which that political power is exercised. This theory of "consent" is historically contrasted to the divine right of kings and has often been invoked against the legitimacy of colonialism. Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government."

When consent is witheld the legitimacy of the policy is in doubt - ie. the mandate has not been approved.
Mandate (politics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The legitimacy of imposing police commissioners onto the population is in doubt.

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All well & good MargR, but then, who or what is the answer ? :)

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In areas where voting turn out is less than 50%, the previous system should remain in force.

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I do so agree ... a very controversial headline in most people's heads.

We did, however, vote the present Government into power and they seem to have this right to decide on a Police Commissioner. You never know, could be a good thing at the end of the day.

Did appear to sneak up on us though, didn't it, giving us very little time to object to the proposal.

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I do not think that the appointment of police commissioners was in the tory mandate presented to us at the general election.

Mandate (politics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The concept of a government having a legitimate mandate to govern via the fair winning of a democratic election is a central idea of democracy. New governments who attempt to introduce policies that they did not make public during an election campaign are said to not have a legitimate mandate to implement such policies."

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I'm not sure that it snook up on us...but there was very little canvassing done by the prospective candidates. I received no information through my letterbox about any of the four candidates.......and no-one came door to door canvassing.
This leads me to believe that our views are not important.
And if candidates appear to have no real committment to those who are putting the cross on the ballot paper, you can be pretty sure they aren't going to be interested in doing anything for the electorate once they are elected.

I am very disillusioned by the whole system......if voting changes nothing then not voting has to be tried...just to see if it will make those in power sit up and take notice......if this doesn't work, then we might be in for a revolution.

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The historic method of revolution - violence - isn't a desirable option.

The police and the army have high tech weaponry to disable any protestors.

A policy of non cooperation is a way.
Abstaining from voting might cause a 'vote of no confidence' in parliament, and a general election.

If the same corrupt and blackmailed politicians are put forward as candidates, you have the choice to abstain yet again.

The existing mechanisms of government will continue to operate - tax collection and benefit distribution are done by the civil service, but no new legislation would be passed.

Belgium didn't have a government for a long time and their population survived:D

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Margaret, I do not advocate a revolution based on violence...not even civil disobedience.
Just one where the population sees the bloated political system as a fraud......to dupe those who feel they can make a difference by voting. When experience should tell them that their vote and their voice means very little.
Would - be politicians are good at making promises, but not good on the delivery of them.

I am fed up of dining on a breakfast of hope but remaining hungry at suppertime.

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theres no money eh :confused: how much did they spend on this:confused:

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Much of a waste i agree, I await yer explanation of what Labour would have done? cos Prezza sure wanted it.:rolleyes:

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Ain't just the tories...Graham Jones supported this too.

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Quite agree Cashy - all Opposition Parties whinge at what the party in power introduce but then when they become the Government they do not restore what they created such a furore about.

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I read somewhere that the answer is "42" ... but I'm not sure whether that is a "who" or a "what":confused: Of course, it could be a "whom," objectively speaking;) It might refer to the number of pubs on Union Road; and if it is not accurate ... well, the folks in Ossy always have difficulty counting above 22: the number of fingers and toes possessed by the average Gobbin.

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It seems to a number with great significance in advanced maths
42 (number) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Hehe, very tenuous Margaret...as is 6,53,19,86 etc...etc..etc.. ;)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_(number)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/53_(number)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19_(number)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86_(number)

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Point taken :D
..but I bet I could fox you with pounds, shillings and pence

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I'd bet a florin on that;)

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Four farthings of my money are on Mags. :D:D:D

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a thrip'ny bit from me......should get a nice return!

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I hope that's a silver one

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I'll bet she's saving those to put in the Xmas pudding:alright:

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Did anybody see the Lincolnshire result. Under the normal method of voting the candidate for "Campaign to Stop Politicians Running Policing" actually won the first round but lost on the second votes.

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There is still a coin named a groat.
Pictures of UK Coins - The Groat (Fourpence)

So if you ask for 'cheese at fourpence' you are buying groats cheese.:hidewall:

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I'll have to look for that Caerphilly next time I'm at the cheese shop...

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Well my Daughter brought my PV into hospital so I could vote I just said take it home and shred it, don't want my fingerprints on this stupidity

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The more I read about this the more it annoys me.

On this page about transparency it says

What are they hiding with a level set at £58,200? Taken from LCC's website, the average gross household income in Lancashire for 2011 was £34,200. Many of those households would have had 2 people working.

I can't imagine why anyone working for the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner would be earning anything like £58,200 unless they are referring to senior police officers because according to this site they earn well above that