Police and Crime Commisioner wins reselection battle
Chief Reporter ALUN MICHAEL has won a reselection battle and will stand again as Labour’s candidate to be South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner.
The former Home Office minister, who was MP for Cardiff South and Penarth for 25 years, beat a challenge from domestic violence campaigner Shahien Taj by 1,558 votes to 1,388.
Mr Michael, who has held the post since it was established in 2012, was forced to undergo a full reselection process under a new party rule after he failed to win sufficient support from party units.
He will now stand for a third term next May. Mr Michael said: “I’m delighted to have won and am happy to have gone through this procedure, which has enabled me to debate with the other candidate and find out from party members what they think we are doing right and where we could improve.
“In some instances, issues the other candidate said she wanted to see addressed were things we have already been doing.
“Although there is concern about knife crime, and it is sometimes linked to county lines [drugs gangs], there are significantly more incidents of domestic violence.”
He said there were between 150 and 200 knife offences per year in the force area and between 1,500 and 2,000 incidents of domestic violence.
“Since I was elected we have prioritised measures aimed at focussing on domestic violence and sexual violence, and we shall continue to do so,” said Mr Michael, who recently celebrated his 76th birthday.
He said he wasn’t taking victory for granted. If he is re-elected for a further four-year term, he anticipates it will be his last – although he said there was a lot of work to be done.
Ms Taj said she was disappointed not to have won, but had enjoyed the experience.
She was backed by Welsh Labour Grassroots, the sister organisation of Momentum in Wales, but trade unions had backed Mr Michael.
“Many people contacted me with concerns about South Wales Police’s approach to equality issues, including autism campaigners and members of the gypsy/traveller community,” she said.
“I’m a working-class person and a grassroots candidate who was taking on the Welsh Labour establishment.
“I hope that Alun Michael takes note of the closeness of the result and makes changes in the future.
“I am a person of colour who took on a statesman. I had Welsh Labour’s establishment against me, but still ran him close.”