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Lord Prescott will run for election as one of the UK's first police and crime commissioners, he has announced. Lord Prescott has become the fifth former Labour minister to declare an intention to stand in the first elections for 41 police and crime commissioners across England and Wales.
The former deputy prime minister has confirmed he will run for the post in the Humberside elections in May. His declaration came in a week when Falklands war veteran, Simon Weston, announced his intention to stand as an independent against former Labour Home Office minister Alun Michael for the £100,000-a-year job overseeing the South Wales police.
Directly elected police and crime commissioners (PCCs) are being brought in to replace police authorities in England and Wales. They will have the power to hire and fire chief constables and set the police force's budget and "strategic direction". Also this week the Iraq war veteran and Conservative candidate for Kent commissioner, Colonel Tim Collins, ignited a row with the Police Federation by claiming he would only need to do the job part-time. "Now others might see it differently – those that are desperate for work – but the reality is that we've got a very effective chief constable who has got a great team around him. They can do the policing," said Col Collins. "What we need is someone who can listen to the public and interface with them."
The flagship initiative, introduced by the coalition government, has received harsh criticism from Labour politicians, who claim the commissioners are unnecessary and costly. Collins has said he wants the police to be "ratcatchers, not social workers" and has warned that the elected commissioner's job was not one for "sunset councillors or retired police officers with an axe to grind".
In an interview with the Hull Daily Mail, Prescott said he had agreed to put his name forward to be the Labour candidate in Humberside. The Kent police federation said it was nonsense to suggest that the oversight role of the police, currently undertaken by a 16-strong police authority, could be carried out part-time.
He said: "I want the opportunity to continue my public service to the region with a mandate from the people to protect the community and target criminals. Lord Prescott, aged 73, told the Hull Daily Mail that he would spend the next few months touring Humberside and consulting the public before he drafted the manifesto he would use to stand for the post which attracts a £75,000 salary overseeing the small Humberside force.
"I feel that after proudly serving as a local MP for 40 years and as a cabinet minister for 10 years, I have the experience to listen to the public and help be their strong voice in supporting the police and holding them to account." The veteran Labour peer said that his fight to secure an apology from the Metropolitan police and News International over the failure to investigate illegal phone hacking by the News of the World had stirred his belief that there should be greater transparency and accountability of the police.
Prescott said his recent struggle with the Metropolitan police over phone hacking had led him to believe there should be a "greater transparency and accountability of our police". "I feel that after proudly serving as a local MP for 40 years and a cabinet minister for 10 years, I have the experience to listen to the public and help be their strong voice in supporting the police and holding them to account," he told the Hull Daily Mail.
Two other local figures have already announced they want to stand in the contest to be the Labour candidate in Humberside. This flurry of activity has led policing experts to believe that despite predictions of a dire turnout when they are held on November 15, the novel elections may yet take off.
These are the former Hull city council leader Colin Inglis and the retired senior Humberside police officer Keith Hunter. The five former Labour ministers who have expressed an interest in standing include Peter Kilfoyle and Jane Kennedy in Merseyside, Tony Lloyd in Manchester, and Alun Michael in South Wales. Michael's son, Tal, a police authority chief executive, has declared his intention to stand in north Wales making it a father and son challenge.
The Falklands war veteran Simon Weston has confirmed he will stand against the former Wales first minister and minister for rural affairs, Alun Michael, for the job of police and crime commissioner for South Wales. There are also increasing numbers of independents expressing an interest, as well as Simon Weston, which raises the possibility that the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru may go ahead with plans not to stand in areas where there is a credible non-party political candidate.
Michael, Labour MP for Cardiff South and Penarth, was previously the sole candidate for the £100,000-a-year job. Two ex-police officers turned novelists are poised to enter the North Yorkshire contest. G P Taylor, writer, ordained priest and ex-police officer, whose Shadowmancer and Wormwood novels have sold more than 475,000 copies, and Mike Pannett, who has chronicled the life of a rural beat officer, are considering fighting it out for the North Yorkshire job. Among other former police officers, Keith Hellawell, the ex-Whitehall "drugs tsar" in West Yorkshire, and Ray Mallon in Cleveland have said they want to stand.
Weston, 50, a father of three and former Welsh Guardsman, was badly burned when the Sir Galahad was destroyed in 1982 during the Falklands conflict. Jon Collins, deputy director of the Police Foundation, which is tracking candidates, said it was encouraging that more people, including independents, were emerging and it was important there were high-calibre candidates on the ballot in every area.
He suffered 46% burns on his body and underwent 70 major operations or surgical procedures during a slow recovery. He overcame his injuries and went on to forge a career as a charity worker, children's author and after-dinner speaker. "The first police and crime commissioners are standing for election at a challenging time for the police and it is important that candidates and parties begin their preparation early, developing their knowledge of local policing issues and key community priorities as soon as possible," said Collins.
On Thursday, Weston urged others to follow his example and stand as a commissioner to stop ageing politicians taking the roles. "There are still some forces – like Suffolk, Surrey and Thames Valley – where there are no confirmed candidates and while there is still plenty of time until the election, the sooner that candidates come forward the more time they will have to develop their knowledge of local issues."
Weston's spokesman, Jason Smith, confirmed the veteran would stand against Michael in the elections, which take place on 15 November. Blair Gibbs of the Policy Exchange thinktank, which campaigned for the commissioners, welcomed the entry of heavyweight candidates and predicted that many more would declare after the local elections in May.
Weston earlier told the Sun: "Why should the politicians corner the market? Why should they have any greater insight to life? "Policing would benefit if there were more credible independents standing – like Simon Weston – and fewer full-time councillors. Being a competent chair of a deceased police authority is not a good enough CV to be an effective police and crime commissioner. There is still time for business figures and voluntary sector leaders to throw their hat into the ring. This new generation of police leaders ought to look very different."
"There are so many talented people out there who haven't had a chance to do their bit yet. I'm going to stand as an independent candidate because I believe I can make a contribution and bring something different."