Labour defeats Conservatives in Norfolk PCC election

Sarah Taylor said she would get out and speak to the people of Norfolk about their policing and crime concerns

Norfolk has selected its first Labour representative and first woman police and crime commissioner (PCC), defeating the Conservative incumbent.

Sarah Taylor polled 52,445 votes, ahead of Giles Orpen-Smellie, who had been the PCC since since 2021.

Two Conservatives and a former Tory standing as an independent had held the post since its inception in 2012.

The win showed that perception in Norfolk of the Conservative party had shifted, Ms Taylor said.

'Appetite for general election'

"People want change, they want more visible policing," said Ms Taylor, a Breckland district councillor.

"They do not trust the political system, they have put their trust in me to make a change and the sense of responsibility is quite profound."

She added that people in Norfolk had made their views clear and there was "clearly a need and appetite for a general election".

"The PCC is the voice of local communities within police, and as a resident in Norfolk I feel that has been absent," she said.

"I take that role really seriously - I will be out talking to people, I will be listening and working out how to solve problems and, frankly, when I can't I will let people know and tell them why."

Conservative Giles Orpen-Smellie had hoped to retain his role as Norfolk's PCC

Speaking of the shift to Labour for the first time since the role was created - and in a county with just one sitting Labour MP - she said it reflected the public mood.

"A lot of people in Norfolk have a natural respect for policing, and the Conservatives have long been considered the party of law and order.

"This has shown that people's view of the Conservative party have really changed."

Mr Orpen-Smellie polled 50,567 votes, fewer than half the votes he received during his landslide win in 2021.

He pointed out that the low turn out of 21% meant that the vast majority of electors had not had their say over a "really important job".

"I think they [people in Norfolk] have not embraced and not understood the concept of police and crime commissioner, and if you don't understand it you won't vote for it," he added.

"I've tried to fight this campaign on local issues but I'd be foolish to suggest, with the current political backdrop, that that hasn't been a factor."

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