Kent police commissioner Matthew Scott re-elected

Conservative Matthew Scott was re-elected as Kent's police commissioner

Matthew Scott, Kent's Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), has been re-elected.

Mr Scott, who has held the role since 2016, stood against two other candidates in this year's polls.

Since 2012, PCCs have controlled forces' budgets, set their priorities and have the power to hire and fire chief constables.

The count took place at Gravesend Civic Centre on Sunday.

Mr Scott won with 120,491 votes, which was a 44.1% share, and 13.7% lower than the last poll in 2021.

He stood against Labour candidate Lenny Rolles who had 92,508 votes and Graham Colley, for the Liberal Democrats, who had 60,279 votes.

They increased their share by 8.6% and 5.1% respectively.

The local council elections saw Tory losses and Labour gains, but Conservative PCCs were re-elected across Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Mr Scott said: "There is still some work to do for the party to set out a clear positive agenda going forward, but I think that the performance of police and crime commissioners shows we have bucked the trend."

BBC reporter Jadzia Samuel said there was a "hushed buzz" as the votes were tallied

All 37 commissioners have now been declared across England and Wales.

Labour have 17 commissioners, the Conservatives now hold 19 PCCs and Plaid Cymru have one.