All you need to know about the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner elections

All six candidates are men and all believe they have the right credentials to be voted in as the next KPCC.

However, after a seriously low turnout in the last election four years ago, the winner this time round is anyone’s guess.

KPCC candidate Anne Barnes has been openly criticised by current candidates for not doing enough in her role as KPCC

What’s the point of the KPCC?

The actual purpose of the role is twofold: the first and primary objective is to hold the chief constable of police to account while the second responsibility is to control the police fund from which all Kent policing is financed.

Whoever is elected to the KPCC post will be working on an £85,000 salary where the demands of the role - including the coordination of emergency services - are increasing.

The first ever elections took place in 2012 to select a commissioner for the newly created role. 

How do I vote?

Polls will be open across the county from 7am to 10pm but the result itself won’t be declared until tomorrow - most likely late afternoon.

There will be polling stations in the following places:

Ashford

Canterbury

Dartford

Dover

Gravesham

Maidstone

Medway

Sevenoaks

Shepway

Swale

Thanet

Tonbridge and Malling

Tunbridge Wells

For more details about where to vote click here.

Polling stations around Kent will be open May 5 (c.) google maps

The votes will be counted at the main results centre in Dover.

You will needed to have registered by April 18 otherwise you will not be able to vote.

In 2012 just over 16 per cent of people in Kent went to the ballot boxes to have their say.

How does the KPCC voting system work?

The KPCC elections will be using the Supplementary Vote system (SV) - the same system used in the London Mayoral elections.

Under SV, voters are given a ballot paper with two columns to mark their first choice and second choice candidates.

If no KPCC candidate reaches 50 per cent of the county’s first choice, the two candidates with the highest number of votes are retained and the other candidates are eliminated.

The second preferences of the eliminated candidates are then counted and those votes are then transferred to the two remaining candidates.

The candidate with the highest number of votes is then elected and the next KPCC - even if they didn’t get 50 per cent of the vote to win.

What’s been going on in the candidates’ campaigns?

Conservative candidate Matthew Scott is confident his campaign has done enough to convince the electorate of his credentials

Mr Scott said: “I’m feeling positive but not complacent.

“I’m the best man for the job because I’m talking about the issues - there’s a lot of moaning from the other candidates but I am looking at the future.”

UKIP’s candidate however has warned that a Conservative KPCC in a predominantly Conservative-led county is not good for the public’s interest.

Former army officer and police reformer Henry Bolton said: “There is no openness across the county in that sense - I think accountability is necessary.

“We are in a good place but a lot of people are not aware it’s going on.”

Gurvindher Sandher, the only Independent candidate running for the KPCC post has argued that more needs to be done in terms of raising awareness of the role.

“I have been doing my day job on top of the campaign and it’s been hard work.

“I’ve been all over the county and a lot of people still do not understand the role and so they don’t want to vote.

“It’s so important to ensure there is no party politics in policing - there is a view that party politics would have an impact on the independence of the police and lead to decisions based on politics and not on the issues of concern to members of the public.”

The Dartford equalities campaign officer and the other five contenders will be hoping to avoid the embarrassingly low turnout of 2012.

Speaking at the time of her KPCC election victory, Ann Barnes lampooned the extremely small turnout saying the process had been run "disgracefully" and that there was "anger" among voters who complained that they did not know who was standing for the role.

On Ann Barnes’ ranking as KPCC, Labour’s candidate, Tristan Osborne has said: “Anne Barnes has failed in part because of PR gaffes that have put our force on the map for the wrong reasons - the failed Youth Tsar, Anne-Force One and the mis-judged Channel 4 documentary have all been self-led errors.

“We need better than this miserable record.”

To counter such misery Lib Dem candidate David Naghi has told the electorate that he will “ruthlessly examine and reduce wasteful expenditure”, to help streamline Kent's forces.  

English Democrat Steve Uncles has vowed to introduce a shoot to kill policy if police find suspected illegal immigrants.

“Police will shoot first and ask questions afterwards,” Mr Uncles said.

Steve Uncles, English Democrat

Contenders for the KPCC post this year
Henry Bolton (UKIP)
Tristan Osborne (Labour)
Dave Naghi (Lib Dem)
Gurvinder Sandher (Independent)  
Matthew Scott (Conservative)
Steve Uncles (English Democrat)