Conservative candidate Chris Nelson has been elected as Gloucestershire’s new police and crime commissioner. Mr Nelson received a total of 91,907 votes ahead of Liberal Democrat Chris Coleman who polled 59,838. Mr Nelson will now take on the role of holding the police to account and make sure they deliver an effective and efficient service in the county. None of the five candidates achieved more than 50 per cent of the first preference votes. This triggered a runoff between Conservative candidate Chris Nelson and Liberal Democrat Chris Coleman which included voters’ second preferences. Mr Nelson and Mr Coleman received 79,086 and 37,024 of first preference votes.
Here s who you re voting for, what powers they have and how to vote.
Who am I voting for?
Gloucestershire County Council, which has been Conservative-led since the last election. At present the council consists of Conservatives, 28, Liberal Democrats, 13, Labour & Co-operative Group, four, independents, three, Greens, two, Labour, one, and People Against Bureaucracy Group, one.
Stroud District Council, which is presently led by a cooperative alliance of the Labour, Green and Liberal Democrat parties. Voters elect 51 councillors for the district council every four years. In the last election, they voted in 20 Conservatives, 15 Labour, nine Green, two Liberal Democrats and four others. There is one vacant seat.
Exclusive: Cannabis is already being decriminalised by the back door
Prosecutions have fallen by third in past decade, according to new figures that come as Sadiq Khan calls for review into drug’s legalisation
6 April 2021 • 7:46pm
Sadiq Khan, left, joins shadow business secretary Ed Miliband at a community play centre in north London. Mr Khan called on Monday for a review into the legalisation of cannabis
Cannabis is being decriminalised by the back door as prosecutions have fallen by a third in the past decade, new figures show.
Police data, analysed by House of Commons researchers, shows the number of offences for possession of cannabis fell from 160,733 in 2010/11 to 110,085 in 2019/20.
Barrow Wake is nestled in the Cotswold Hills and boasts spectacular views across Gloucestershire on a clear day you can see across the Severn Valley to Wales.
This beauty spot is a wildlife haven, too, with an abundant butterfly population, including Chalkhill Blues, the Green Hairstreak, and the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary, while the rare honey-scented musk orchid flourishes here.
There is, however, a rather less salubrious side to Barrow Wake. It has long been associated with dogging attracting those who like to have sex in cars or outdoors, sometimes in groups, with strangers looking to join in, or voyeurs watching from their vehicles.
Policing bill: Plan to crack down on protests passes first Commons hurdle despite civil liberties warning Ashley Cowburn and Lizzie Dearden
Protesters hold up traffic on Westminster Bridge UP NEXT
Government plans to introduce new powers to crack down on protests have cleared the first hurdle in the Commons despite warnings an “all-out assault” the right to demonstrate from civil liberties groups.
Following two days of debates on the contentious proposals, MPs voted by 359 to 263 to pass the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill at second reading in a move that was described as a “dark stain on our democracy”.