MAY I, through your columns, thank the 57,248 Derbyshire residents who voted for me to become the county's first police and crime commissioner on November 15?
Notwithstanding the low level of interest in the election, I feel very humbled that so many people, from the High Peak through to South Derbyshire, from Brassington to Bolsover, have supported my candidacy for this important new role.
Having placed their trust in me to keep Derbyshire as one of the safest and best places to live in the country, I will spend the next three-and-a-half years dedicating myself to doing exactly that.
I also give my total gratitude to the 200-300 supporters who have worked tirelessly with me on my successful campaign.
They have tramped the streets delivering around 250,000 pieces of literature and talking to local residents by knocking on their doors and, in town and city centres, getting across my policies and commitments about how I will keep Derbyshire safe. I could not have had a better or more talented team!
My one regret at last week's success is that I will be standing down as a Derbyshire county councillor next May, having represented by home community of Killamarsh for 20 years. I am not going to resign immediately because to do so would leave Killamarsh without a county councillor until May 2013. There could not be a by-election because we are within six months of the May election. However, I have written to the chief executive saying that I will not accept any allowances from the council during this period.
There are, of course, a great many questions to be asked about how the new role of police and crime commissioner was set up and how the elections have been managed by the Government and, along with most people, I hope that the Electoral Commission's investigation will identify where poor decisions were made and how the next PCC election in 2016 can be vastly improved.
I am now looking forward to performing my duties and meeting Derbyshire communities over the coming months.
Alan Charles
Derbyshire police and crime commissioner