A CONSERVATIVE has again been elected as the new Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire and the City of York.

Harrogate councillor Zoe Metcalfe will take up office as the Commissioner immediately.

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During her election campaign, Ms Metcalfe said her focus is on “improving safety for women and girls across North Yorkshire, supporting victims of crime and tackling serious and organised crime”.

She is a project manager for a property company in addition to being a member of Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council. 

Simon Dennis, Chief Executive of the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner said: “On behalf of the Office, I am delighted to welcome Zoë to the role of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

"Together with the Chief Constable and the Interim Chief Fire Officer, I look forward to working with her in the years ahead.

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“I also want to thank Jenni Newberry for serving as Acting Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for the past few weeks and all the team at the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner who have worked so hard to ensure our work continued without interruption ahead of this by-election.”

The count took place at Selby District Council who said the voter turnout was 13.94 per cent.

This is a decrease compared to the PCC election in May when the turnout was 25.33 per cent.

Ms Metcalfe fought off competition from Emma Scott-Spivey (Labour), James Barker (Liberal Democrat), Keith Tordoff (Independent) and Hannah Barham-Brown (Women’s Equality Party).

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