PCC Election Result – Conservative Lisa Townsend Retains Commissioner Role

Published on: 3 May, 2024
Updated on: 3 May, 2024

Lisa Townsend speaking just after the result was announced.

By Martin Giles

Conservative candidate Lisa Townsend has been re-elected as the Police & Crime Commissioner for Surrey.

Despite opinion polls showing Conservatives 20 points behind Labour nationally, she beat second-placed Paul Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat candidate, by over 13,000 votes.

Kate Chinn, Labour, and Alex Coley, Independent, each attracted over 42,000 votes.

After the result was announced, Townsend vowed to continue supporting a “back to basics” approach to policing in Surrey.

She said she would continue supporting Surrey Police’s renewed focus on issues that, she said, matter most to residents, such as tackling anti-social behaviour, shoplifting, and targeting persistent offenders.

She said the Force now had more officers than ever before and under the leadership of new Chief Constable Tim De Meyer, they were concentrating on combatting those crimes that are thought to matter most to the Surrey public.

Townsend said she wanted to use her second term to build on recent improvements in Surrey Police and continue being a voice for the county’s residents.

See Lisa Townsend’s interview with local democracy reporter Emily Dalton below…

See below the result being announced…

In Guildford, nearly 9,000 voters supported Townsend, with Kennedy 1,000 votes behind.

Kennedy’s home borough of  Mole Valley, which neighbours Guildford to the east, is believed to be the only borough where he had more support than the Conservative.

The four PCC Candidates: left to right, Kate Chinn, Alex Coley, Paul Kennedy and Lisa Townsend

The turnout in Guildford was 23 per cent and the overall turnout for Surrey, where the PCC election coincided with council elections in most boroughs and districts, is 29.9 per cent.

Image supplied by Emily Dalton, local democracy reporter.

In Guildford 24,035 ballot papers were verified from an electorate of 104,704. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​The total number of verified ballot papers in Surrey is 265,706 from a total electorate of 888,083.

Townsend said today (May 3): “I am honoured to be re-elected as Surrey’s Police and Crime Commissioner and I want to thank everyone who took the time to vote. 

 “Over the last three years, I have listened to what thousands of residents in Surrey tell me they want from their police service. They want our officers doing the job only they can – investigating and solving crime and taking offenders off our streets.  

  “They don’t want their police sitting in hospitals for hours on end or investigating non-crime hate incidents. They want to see our police teams taking the fight to criminals and focusing on those issues most important to them where they live.  

 “The Chief Constable shares my commitment to a ‘back to basics’ approach to policing and I believe that is already starting to pay dividends for our communities. 

  “In the last year alone, Surrey Police has made significant improvements in a number of areas, including achieving record performance for 999 and 101 waiting times. 

  “Successful policing operations are taking place across the county to tackle shoplifting gangs, persistent offenders and drug-dealing networks, while funding secured through my office is being used to combat pockets of anti-social behaviour in communities across the county. 

 “Thanks to a huge recruitment drive over the last three years, Surrey Police has more officers in its ranks than ever before, which is fantastic news for residents. 

 “I will offer all the support I can to our hard-working police teams so they can continue to make strides in tackling those issues that matter most to our residents.”

 Chief Constable Tim De Meyer said: “Surrey Police warmly congratulates Lisa Townsend on her re-election as Police and Crime Commissioner.   

“We look forward to continuing to work with her on challenges such as tackling violence against women and girls, improving our response to calls from the public, and bringing more offenders to justice.”  

The current Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner, Ellie Vesey-Thompson, will also be proposed by the Commissioner for a second term, which will be subject to a formal confirmation hearing.

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