Direct elections and the local governance of crime in the United Kingdom: a view from the ground

n the latter half of 2008, proposals emerged from the Home Office for the creation of a completely new elected office in England and Wales, the Crime and Policing Representative. These were to be directly elected and would chair Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in England and Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) in Wales, as well as automatically become members of the police authority. However, before the proposals were even debated in parliament they were dropped because of concerns extremist parties may win them. This article presents findings from interviews with a range of councillors, police officers and other officials working with or for CDRPs/CSPs in a representative mix of authorities. It shows that although extremist parties winning were a concern there were many more compelling reasons to reject this policy. The article ends with a brief discussion of alternative proposals that could be considered.