Acting Peterborough and Cambridgeshire police and crime commissioner appointed

Members of the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel have voted to appoint Councillor Ray Bisby, who represents the Stanground South to the role at a Peterborough Town Hall meeting today.

An extraordinary meeting of the panel took place to appoint an acting Police and Crime Commissioner. It followed the resignation of Jason Ablewhite as Police and Crime Commissioner on Monday 11 November.

As the resignation of the Police and Crime Commissioner took place within six months of the scheduled election on May 7 2020, an election is not required and an interim appointment can be made instead.

Edward Leigh, the independent co-opted Chairman of the Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Panel, said: “We wish Councillor Bisby well in this new role and look forward to working with him over the next five months.

“We will support Councillor Bisby in stepping up to this role and leading the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner until an election is held in May 2020. The role of the Police and Crime Panel is to constructively challenge and scrutinise the Police and Crime Commissioner and we will continue to do this going forward.”

Mr Ablewhite resigned following a complaint from a member of the public about interactions on social media.

A letter from the chief executive of the office of the police and crime commissioner revealed allegations against Mr Ablewhite are of a “criminal nature”.