Why will police commissioner election cost up to £2m?

Just weeks after county council elections took place, voters in Norfolk are due to go to the polls again – for a vote that could cost up to £2m.

A by-election will take place for the job of police and crime commissioner (PCC), following the sudden resignation of Sarah Taylor last week.

With the role due to be scrapped in two years' time and turnout in PCC elections historically being low, some are questioning whether it should go ahead.

So how did we get here, why is an election so expensive and who is likely to stand?

Commissioners set the priorities for a police force, hold them to account and when necessary, appoint a new chief constable.

There are currently 37 PCCs in England with the role created under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in 2012.

At the time, Prime Minister David Cameron said it was "a big job for a big local figure".

"It's a voice for the people, someone to lead the fight against crime, and someone to hold to account if they don't deliver," he insisted.

However, elections for PCCs have generally attracted very low turnouts - in 2024 just 21.31% of people voted in the Norfolk poll.

And while an England-wide survey by the Home Office in 2020 found 67% of people said they were interested in the work of commissioners, only 16% could name theirs.

With Norfolk traditionally voting Conservative, Taylor emerged as the surprise winner for Labour in the 2024 PCC election.

She quit her job as a highways and transport engineer to take on the £76,000-a-year role, which she said "should be a powerful enabler of change".

But just over a year after being elected, the government said it was scrapping PCCs, with Labour's Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood calling them a costly part of "unnecessary bureaucracy".

In response, Taylor quit the party and said she was worried the government was "reducing democracy" and no longer reflecting "Labour values".

Last week, she left the PCC job altogether, because "an immediate family member" had been diagnosed with a life-changing condition.

Legally, because of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, a by-election will have to take place.

Running a county-wide election does not come cheap.

Costs for councils include postage for more than 700,000 voting cards, opening around 500 polling stations and providing staff to count votes.

The government has said the election would be paid for centrally – so local authorities should not lose out – but the bill was is expected to be somewhere between £1.5m and £2m.

The North Norfolk Liberal Democrat MP Steffan Aquarone has called for the by-election to be cancelled.

With PCCs being scrapped in two years time, he warned it was "a really, really problematic use of taxpayers' money".

"We could fund dozens of police officers for that money instead, and that's what Norfolk needs," he added.

Aquarone argued that Norfolk's Police and Crime Panel, which is made up of councillors from across the county, could oversee the police for the next two years instead.

A Home Office spokesman said that was not possible, but the panel would be responsible for putting in place "interim arrangements pending the appointment of a new PCC".

Kay Mason Billig, leader of the Conservative group at Norfolk County Council, said "the money could be better spent on front-line policing".

The South West Norfolk Labour MP Terry Jermy said it "seemed like an unnecessary expense".

Reform UK, which won the most seats in last month's county council elections, has said the party "would expect to win".

Reform's council leader David Bick agreed that opening the polls would be "an expensive exercise" but it was necessary.

He added that he hoped a Reform PCC would set a "policy of zero-tolerance".

Despite losing dozens of council seats in May, Mason Billig insisted the Conservatives "should be able to take this seat".

Aquarone refused to say whether the Lib Dems would put up a candidate, the Greens are choosing theirs this week and Labour was also expected to stand.

Restore Britain, which is led by the Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe, has also been asked if it will contest the by-election.

The by-election is due to take place on 16 July.

Voting will also have to take place for the Breckland District Council seat which Taylor resigned from as well, but no date has been set for that poll yet.

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.