SOUTH Tyneside’s Police and Crime Commissioner has hit out at the running of last year’s elections – but says she is gradually winning the public around.
Vera Baird was elected to the new role overseeing Northumbria Police in November.
The election saw a record low turnout of 15.1 per cent nationally.
And a report by the Electoral Reform Society has claimed 90 per cent of people have no idea who their elected commissioner is.
But Ms Baird said: “The government were appalling about the way they launched this.
“You would think they wanted it to fail, the way they went about it.
“They never explained what the job was.
“It was a very bad piece of government, but I would not have stood if I didn’t think it was a good thing to bring the public closer to the police.
“In the past few weeks we have consulted a lot of people about the police and crime plan, so even if they do not know my name, they are understanding what the police and crime commissioner is.”
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