Conservatives see victory in race for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Crime Commissioner election
After a two-day wait Cambridgeshire and Peterborough finally has a new police and crime commissioner.
Conservative Darryl Preston has taken the job after the first round count saw the need for a count of people's second choice votes.
It is a point of celebration for the Tories who this afternoon saw the role of the county's metro mayor snatched from their grasp by Labour, which followed the disappointment of losing overall control of the county council yesterday (Friday) after Thursday's polling.
Mr Preston was ahead after the first vote but had failed to secure the required 50 per cent of the votes cast to secure the title meaning another hour or two of waiting while the second count was completed.
His nearest rival Nicky Massey for Labour was not so far behind to be counted out of the race as the second count began.
But in the end Mr Preston polled nearly 12,000 more votes to take the spoils and become the police and crime commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
He polled a total of 114,153 votes to Ms Massey's 102,185.
Lib Dem candidate Rupert Moss-Eccardt and Reform UK's Susan Morris were eliminated after the first round vote polling 51,490 and 8,031 respectively.
Fenland once again had the poorest turnout for the election of any district in the county with just 29.72 per cent of eligible voters choosing to exercise their democratic right.
The district's result after the first round was: Darryl Preston, 14,437; Nicky Massey, 4,552; Rupert Moss-Eccardt, 2,100 and Susan Morris, 1,148.
In the second round the result was: Darryl Preston, 3,328 and Nicky Massey, 1018.
Read more: Labour is victorious in battle for to be Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
And more: Elections 2021: Cambridgeshire County Council results
And: Tories take vacant Octavia Hill Ward seat on Wisbech Town Council
