Former Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson misses out as Conservatives choose candidate to be next police and crime commissioner

Instead, the party last night (Friday) selected Darryl Preston as their candidate for May’s election.

Mr Preston, from Ely, is a senior policy manager at the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners - the national membership body for the crime commissioners.

Before that he spent 14 years as an officer with Met Police then 11 as a detective at Cambridgeshire police, including nearly six as a senior detective.

Mr Jackson served as a city MP between 2005 and 2017 and was also chief of staff for David Davis when he was Brexit Secretary.

If elected, Mr Preston will replace Jason Ablewhite who was elected four years ago to be the county’s second crime chief.

However, Mr Ablewhite quit the £85,000 a year role four days after he had been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct after a complaint was made to Cambridgeshire police that he allegedly sent an explicit photo to a woman on Facebook.

The IOPC investigation is ongoing and Mr Ablewhite - who has not commented publicly on the allegation - has not been arrested or charged with any offence.

Since his resignation in November the role has been carried out by Ray Bisby, a former Serviceman and currently a Conservative councillor in Peterborough representing Stanground South.

Other candidates for the role have yet to be announced.

Police and crime commissioners are elected representatives who are in charge of police forces across England and Wales.

They were introduced by the coalition government in 2012.

In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough the role has only been held by Conservatives, with the first election being won by Sir Graham Bright.

Mr Preston said his campaign will focus on reducing crime, addressing the root causes of crime and ensuring policing throughout the county is visible and accessible to members of the public.

He said: “I am delighted to be selected as the Conservative police and crime commissioner candidate for Cambridgeshire.

“Having spent my life working in law enforcement I know how important this job is. Police and crime commissioners are responsible for our local policing, they control multi-million-pound budgets, set our local priorities for tackling crime and can hire and fire chief constables.

“Here in Cambridgeshire, the people who live and work in our cities, towns and villages want to see a well-resourced police service dealing with the crime and anti-social behaviour that exists within our communities. I will do everything I can to make this happen.

“The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Conservative Government have shown their commitment to the police with the plans to recruit 20,000 extra officers.

“As the Conservative candidate I can work with the Government to cut crime. I will make sure we get our fair share of new officers here in Cambridgeshire and our existing officers get the investment and support they need to keep people across the county safe.”

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