THE conservative candidate has won the Swindon and Wiltshire Police & Crime Commissioner elections.

Despite the controversy surrounding the previous PCC election, Philip Wilkinson (Cons) has beat out the Independent candidate Mike Rees to become the county’s new PCC.

Going into the second count there was a gap of over 7,000 votes between Mr Wilkinson and Mr Rees.

In the end, Mr Wilkinson won 37,752 votes to Mr Rees’ 34,815.

After the controversy surrounding the previous election, Mr Wilkinson said he would distinguish himself by bringing his unique expertise to the role.

“For the last 20 years I’ve been working for other government departments making my country and my community safer,” he said.

“I think that makes me stand alone from Jonathon Seed.”

Next week Mr Wilkinson will meet with the chief constable Kier Pritchard to discuss the policing plan moving forward.

Mr Wilkinson said that the key priorities for his time as the PCC will be drug abuse, county lines, rural issues, speeding and anti-social behaviour, as well as victim support.

He said: “Obviously I am very happy and I realise I am in a privileged position and that this is a huge opportunity to bring my experience.

“I’m excited by the extent of the challenge, which I know will be huge and that’s why it will have my full attention.”

The new PCC added that he was excited by the challenge.

“Currently Wiltshire Police is not fully manned. According to the briefing the chief constable gave me, we are 57 uniformed officers and 40 civilian support staff under establishment,” he continued.

He suggested a change in recruitment priority to address the critical issue of numbers.

“We need to come together and refine the plan I’ve written with the plan the office has produced for my first hundred days so we have a clear understanding of the shared vision,” Mr Wilkinson said.

“I’ve already spoken to the police minister in terms of how many police Wiltshire is likely to get from the 20,000, and realistically I want at least 150.

“If we recruit to establishment and we get that 150, that's a 20 per cent increase in the number of uniformed officers we can put on the streets.

“Police officers have a tough job to do and I hope that we can share experiences so we can become more effective together.

“It’s not me telling them, it’s me listening to them and coming up with a collegiate plan.”

He added that he would like to influence the police funding formula to ensure that rural areas like Wiltshire get fairer funding compared with urban areas.

Returning officer for Wiltshire, Terence Herbert said: “Congratulations to Philip Wilkinson on being elected as Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner and we look forward to working with him during the coming months and years.

“It has been a busy few months preparing for this unexpected election, and I’d like to thank my team and everyone who provided support for tackling every challenge that came their way with professionalism, commitment, hard work and good humour.”

Mr Rees said he was proud of placing second in the race and thanked the thousands of people who voted in favour of a non-political candidate.

“What I had behind me was the people of Wiltshire. I had around 400 volunteers out all over the county delivering leaflets and we made the Conservative party sweat,” he said.

“We came very, very close. I’ll always be grateful to the people who backed me and I hope I’ve done them proud.”

Chief constable Kier Pritchard said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate Philip Wilkinson on becoming the new Police & Crime Commissioner for the county of Wiltshire.

“I look forward to working with him and his team on issues he has raised in his election campaign such as making sure Wiltshire receives its fair share of new officers, tackling drug gangs and anti-social behaviour.

“Once Mr Wilkinson has set his Police and Crime Plan, I will ensure my resources are used effectively and efficiently to achieve these priorities.

“The last year and a half has been challenging and unsettling for many due to the COVID pandemic but I will work with the new PCC to ensure our communities feel safe and that policing remains visible within neighbourhoods.”

The results of the first preference votes were as follows:

Junab Ali (Labour and Co-operative) - 12,971

Julan  Malins (Reform UK) - 1,859

Brian Mathew (Liberal Democrats) - 17,966

Mike Rees (Independent) - 25,197

Philip Wilkinson (Conservative) - 32,564