Commissioner accused of 'cronyism' over deputy post

Danielle Stone said she "can’t possibly" look after such a big and diverse county as Northamptonshire on her own

A police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) has been accused of "cronyism" over her proposal to make a failed Labour parliamentary candidate her deputy.

Labour's Danielle Stone said she wants to appoint Marianne Kimani to the post to add "additional skills and talents" to the office of the PFCC.

A meeting heard her Conservative predecessor Stephen Mold had not appointed anyone to the £55,000-a-year position during his term in office.

The police, fire and crime panel can recommend or refuse approval of the appointment, but the final decision falls solely to Ms Stone.

Marianne Kimani, who came second to the Conservatives in the Daventry constituency, told the panel she had been a special constable

Ms Stone was appearing before the panel, which holds the PFCC to account, for the first time since her election in May.

Mr Mold had not sought re-election after he made misogynistic comments about chief fire officer, Nikki Watson.

Matt Binley, a Conservative North Northamptonshire councillor, asked Ms Stone where the funding for the deputy commissioner would come from, as reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“The Commissioner has talked about rebuilding trust in the service," he said.

"Call it nepotism, call it cronyism, whatever you wish, but this appointment reeks."

Ms Stone said: "Northamptonshire is very big [with] lots of diverse communities and I can’t possibly do that on my own.

"I want to have a deputy that’s working alongside me to co-support and co-produce projects."

Ms Kimani, who had hoped to become Daventry's MP, told the panel she had both enforced the law as a special constable and also had experience of being a victim of crime.

Concerns were raised that her CV had not been made available for the scrutiny meeting.

Jonny Bugg, the chief executive of the office of the police, fire and crime commission, said the paperwork provided to members fulfilled the legal requirements for the session.

The meeting lasted four hours. The panel then went into a private session to decide its jurisdiction on the appointment.