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UK: Zimbabwe-born Nicolle Ndiweni wins in Derbyshire; gets nearly 30,000 votes more than incumbent
By Agencies
UK: Zimbabwe-born Nicolle Ndiweni has been elected as Derbyshire’s police and crime commissioner (PCC) for the next four years.
The Labour candidate earned 93,260 votes, nearly 30,000 more than the incumbent, Angelique Foster of the Conservatives, who received 65,293.
Speaking after the results were announced Ndiweni said: “I feel exhausted because it has been a long and tiring campaign travelling the whole of the county. But the experience has been eye-opening and people again and again have been telling me that policing is not working and is getting worse.
“My new role is going to bring challenges and I am hoping that cross-party cooperation will help. Facing the challenges and wanting to make difference is why I stood for this position.
“I have spent months listening to residents across Derbyshire, in our villages, towns, rural communities and city. I understand and share their community safety and policing concerns and I believe everyone should feel safe no matter where they live, work or study in our region.”
Having graduated with a degree in criminology and international relations and having served as a district councillor, managing the Safer and Stronger Communities portfolio, Ndiweni said she knew what lay ahead.
She added: “It is important to restore public trust, confidence and pride in our police service, which is imperative.”
The PCC is an independent elected position that is charged with securing efficient and effective policing over their force area. The role of the PCC is to be the voice of the people and to hold the police to account. PCCs bring a public voice to policing and they do this by:
• Engaging with the public and victims of crime to help set police and crime plans;
• Ensuring the police force budget is spent where it matters most;
• Appointing the chief constable, holding them to account for delivery of their objectives, and if necessary, dismissing them.
The PCC does not run the police force and chief constables continue to be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the police, but they are accountable to the public via the PCC.
Ndiweni is the third person to hold the position of PCC since it was introduced in 2012. Labour’s Hardyal Dhindsa successfully defended the position he won in 2012, in 2016 but was defeated by Angelique Foster in 2021 – a year later than the election should have been held because of the Covid pandemic.