Former Halifax MP candidate chosen as Tories’ police tsar candidate

Conservatives in North Yorkshire have selected a public relations expert and former Halifax MP candidate as their nomination to replace Julia Mulligan as the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner.
Phillip AllottPhillip Allott
Phillip Allott

Philip Allott, the director of Knaresborough-based Allott and Associates, will campaign to be elected in 2020 following Mrs Mulligan’s decision in March not to stand again.

The current North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, elected in 2012, failed to be automatically selected as the Conservative candidate when local Tories decided there should be an open selection process.

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She came under fire for her successful bid to get an oversight role over North Yorkshire’s fire and rescue service and for selling off North Yorkshire Police’s Newby Wiske headquarters to a firm that wanted to turn it into an outdoor activities holiday centre.

Mr Allott, a former member of the territorial army, was selected by Conservative members from North Yorkshire on Friday.

He has had two unsuccessful attempts to become a Conservative MP in Halifax, losing by 1,472 to Linda Riordan in 2010 and by just 428 votes to Holly Lynch in 2015.

Mr Allott said his campaign will focus on increasing the visibility of the police, clamping down on anti-social behaviour and making the police and fire services more efficient to invest savings in frontline services.

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“Right across North Yorkshire, people want to feel safe on streets and in their homes and, if elected, I will work with the chief constable and her officers to make sure this is the case”, he said.

“The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the Conservative Government have shown their commitment to the police with the plans to recruit 20,000 extra officers.”