Conservative Philip Seccombe re-elected as Warwickshire's police and crime commissioner - by the narrowest of margins

Conservative Philip Seccombe has been re-elected as Warwickshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) - by the narrowest of margins.

After the count, there were just 261 votes between Mr Seccombe (with 45,638 votes) and Labour's Sarah Feeney (with 45,377 votes).

Liberal Democrat Richard Dickson came third with 24,867 votes.

Back in 2021, Mr Seccombe won with a majority of over 40,000.

In the Warwick district, Sarah Feeney got the most votes with 11,998 – Philip Seccombe got 9,025 and Richard Dickson got 6,411. But after all the districts and boroughs were added together, Mr Seccombe secured the highest number of votes (45,638), securing a third term in office.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Seccombe said: "It is a great privilege. I feel humbled to be returned for a third time now and there is lots of work to be done.

“The reason I do this job is that I want to make sure Warwickshire is safe as it can be for our residents, for our businesses and for the large numbers of tourists that come to Warwickshire.”

“It has been a real privilege to be elected to represent the wonderful county of Warwickshire.”

Ms Feeney said: “The outcome of the police and crime commissioner election in Warwickshire is disappointing for me, but I respect the decision of the voters.

"Whilst campaigning in towns and villages throughout Warwickshire, I have learnt so much first-hand about the issues people are dealing with. As Warwickshire County Councillor I will not let this knowledge go to waste. I will use my position on WCC to support council initiatives that help address the causes of crime and support our hard-working Warwickshire Police force."

Mr Dickson said one thing he has learned over the last six to eight weeks of campaigning is how community safety is shared responsibility between the police, public sector agencies and community groups who do “brilliant work around the county”.

He concluded by pointing out that only a quarter of the public voted and asked if there was more that could be done to make the PCC relevant to the public and encourage people to vote.