True cost of electing the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner

KentOnline / KMTV

The average vote in last year's elections was £11.62.  Ollie Leader reports.

Transcript

00:00What do you think is worth £11.62?

00:05A nice bottle of Prosecco perhaps?

00:09A few boxes of biscuits for the office maybe?

00:13How about your vote for the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner?

00:17Elections for the role were held around this time last year

00:22and by breaking down how many people actually cast their vote

00:28and comparing it to how much it costs to run the elections in each local authority

00:36we can reveal just how expensive voting can be

00:42with a single vote for the Commissioner costing a whopping £16 up in Dartford

00:51Pictured right next to me is Matthew Scott, the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner

00:57he is an elected representative that keeps Kent's police force accountable

01:03he helps manage their budget and sets priorities for the force

01:08but how many people here in Maidstone actually know who he is?

01:14Do you know who this guy is right here?

01:16I don't know.

01:17If I said he was a politician here in Kent would that ring any bells?

01:20Er, no, I've not seen him.

01:23Unfortunately not.

01:25Has he just escaped?

01:27Well, he's someone on the television isn't he that interviews us, that's all I know.

01:31Politician.

01:32Politician?

01:33Any idea who he is, what he does?

01:35No, I can't remember what his name is.

01:38He's the Police and Crime Commissioner.

01:40Do you know what the Police and Crime Commissioner role does here in Kent?

01:43Not a lot.

01:44Clearly not the most recognisable name on the high street.

01:49But a vote here was still the cheapest out of all of Kent's councils.

01:55Costing the Borough Council around £3.50 a vote.

02:00In no small part because it was one of the very few places in the county

02:07to be holding local elections at the same time.

02:12Er, there are obviously ways in which maybe the cost of the election could be reduced.

02:17I've always argued that elections should be held on the same day wherever possible.

02:21I said that after the extension of the last term of PCCs

02:25that the term should be realigned with the county council elections.

02:29Then the more elections you run on the same day

02:31the savings that you can make in doing so.

02:33Yes, we're in the fourth term of PCCs

02:36but actually it's still a challenge to make sure that there is that recognition.

02:40Er, we work really hard on that by doing street stalls,

02:43by doing public engagements, going out on the beat.

02:45Turnout is a big problem

02:48with 10% less people turning up at the polls

02:53for the role last year than they did back in 2021.

02:58Elections are expensive things to run

03:01and what we've seen over many years is a sort of falling turnout

03:06and a disaffection with politics which I think is sort of underlying

03:12a key aspect of what we need to try and change in terms of getting voters engaged,

03:17getting people wanting to elect the right people to office.

03:21Democracy might be priceless, even if elections are expensive.

03:28But if people can start to put a name to a face, it might help going forward.

03:34Oli Lieder in Maystone.

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