With Philippa Thompson
I’ve been out and about this week knocking on doors and asking voters “What matters to you?”. Overall, I’d say there’s disillusionment with politics and a view that all political parties are the same. So why vote Philippa Thompson, Labour and Co-operative, in the Police and Crime Commissioner election on Thursday 2 May 2024?
It’s important to me to be local when asking for the trust of my own community. What matters to you, certainly in terms of police and crime, matters to me and to my family as well. My guiding principles, as a British diplomat serving at home and overseas to represent the interests of the United Kingdom, have been those of the Seven Principles of Public Life, also known as the Nolan Principles: selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, leadership.
If elected as our Police and Crime Commissioner these are the standards I expect to be held to, and the standards I believe we all should expect from those who serve us, including our police. As a Parent Governor at my sons’ schools I learnt to be a “Critical Friend”, taking the time to fully understand how things work, not being afraid to question and being trusted that those questions were asked for the right reasons, to drive success.
You may know that three of the four current Police and Crime Commissioner in Wales are Labour and Co-operative. That means bringing a collaborative approach to policing, working together with our community, with community groups, with other public services, to tackle the underlying causes of crime. My public service career has been all about working in a joined-up way, including with police and prison services. The police alone cannot cut crime: a joined-up approach to policy, strategy and delivery, from improving mental health and wellbeing, to education and youth services is vital.
The Labour Party’s “Take Back Our Streets” Mission highlights police and criminal justice reform, to rebuild public confidence in policing and the criminal justice system. The plan is to turn around the collapse in the proportion of crimes solved, to increase the pool of prosecutors who can bring criminals to justice, to build the prison places the Tories promised and failed to deliver. Vetting and training processes for the police will also be overhauled.
If elected by you, my pledge is to hold Labour to these promises, working closely with the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff, so that our communities are safe and feel safe.
If you’d like to find out more about my campaign to be our next Police and Crime Commissioner there’s more at www. facebook. com/ PhilippaThompsonLabour
Philippa Thompson
Labour & Co-operative Party Candidate for Dyfed-Powys Police a