Hambleton to stand for crime commissioner
Police boss bid by face of pub bombs justice campaign
BIRMINGHAM pub bombings campaigner Julie Hambleton has launched an audacious bid to become the next West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner.
She will challenge political heavyweights from both the Conservatives and Labour for the key job of ensuring West Midlands Police is run effectively.
“I believe the time is right,” says Justice4the21 leader Ms Hambleton. “I believe I have the support of the man in the street, and I believe I can bring enormous energy and drive to this job.”
She will contest the post next May when PCC David Jamieson, a former Labour MP, steps down after four years in the job.
He will not be standing again but both Labour and the Conservatives
are sure to field high-profile candidates – and there may be other hopefuls, too.
The PCC has the responsibility of ensuring West Midlands Police is run effectively and to hold it to account.
“The idea has come from our supporters and I have pondered over it for some time,” says Ms Hambleton. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought ‘Why not?’ I am not a politician and don’t have to toe a party line.
“But I can promise you this. I speak my mind and what I have said in terms of the way the families of the pub bombings victims have been treated resonates with thousands of our supporters.
“They are fed up with political claptrap and soundbites and promises. They are sick of the establishment failing to stand up for them. What they want to see is truth, honesty and accountability in our policing. They want more bobbies on the beat, and more support for those brave policeman and women who battle to keep our streets safe.
“And they want to see more crooks behind bars for longer. They want to see more help for the victims – as opposed to the perpetrators.
“I think I can bring a freshness and a new edge to the role of the PCC. I know there will be many senior figures who will shudder at the thought of my being in post because they know I won’t make life comfortable for them.
“Good – it’s about time some them were made to sit up.”
But she says: “I am not a one-string pony, although most people will only know me as the face of Justice4the21,” she added.
“I have a very good grasp of policing today and the various issues and difficulties that make it such a difficult job, particularly in times of aus
of terity. The other thing is that I speak my mind, whether that is to the Prime Minister or the Chief Constable. I won’t be beholden to any one party. And you won’t see me ducking difficult issues or making excuses.”
Ms Hambleton is the spokeswoman for ten of the families of victims of the Birmingham pub bombings who make up the Justice4the21 campaign group and is an experienced, confident public speaker both at meetings and rallies and in front of cameras at press conferences.
Her drive was a major factor in Justice4the21 campaigners winning a proper inquest into the deaths of the 21 victims when IRA bombers struck at two city centre bars – The Mulberry Bush and The Tavern In The Town – in November 1974.
After a wait of almost 45 years, a jury concluded the 21 were murdered by the Irish terror group.