Reform UK wins first police commissioner as PCC role faces abolition

Reform UK has taken its first police and crime commissioner after Rupert Matthews, the Leicestershire and Rutland PCC, defected from the Conservatives. The move gives Nigel Farage’s party a foothold in one of the few elected posts with direct power over policing priorities, just as the office itself is moving toward abolition.

Police and crime commissioners were created to replace police authorities, and they do more than set a political tone. PCCs scrutinise their force, hire and dismiss the chief constable, and set the police budget. The office has drawn criticism over low turnout and limited public visibility, with some contests in the low 20s.

The 2024 elections, held on 2 May, were the fourth PCC elections and covered 37 police areas across England and Wales, 33 in England and four in Wales. In Leicestershire, Rupert Oliver Matthews won with 62,280 votes on a turnout of 21.70%.

Matthews has held the Leicestershire and Rutland role since 2021 and previously served as an MEP for the East Midlands. His switch to Reform gives the party its first PCC after a broader electoral breakthrough that had already seen it win its first seat in the UK general election. He joined Nigel Farage’s party while arguing the “dark heart of wokeness” needed removing from the justice system.

Labour gained 10 police and crime commissioner posts from the Conservatives, while Joy Allen was re-elected as Durham Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham and Darlington. Allen said local people had placed their trust in her and she would repay that trust by redoubling efforts to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.

In November 2025, the government said it would scrap PCCs at the end of their current terms in May 2028, and the change is expected to save £100m over this parliament. In areas with elected mayors, those mayors are expected to absorb the policing role.