Polls close in Norwich City Council and Norfolk PCC elections

Ballot box
[PA Media]

Voters have gone to the polls to elect new city councillors and Norfolk's police and crime commissioner (PCC).

The elections will decide who sits on Norwich City Council - where a third of the seats are up for grabs - as well as the county's PCC.

Polling stations opened at 07:00 BST and closed at 22:00, with the results from the 13 wards to be published on the council website.

Constituents needed photo ID to vote.

There are four candidates standing for the Norfolk PCC role: John Crofts (Liberal Democrat), current commissioner Giles Orpen-Smellie (Conservative), Martin Schmierer (Greens) and Sarah Taylor (Labour).

The newly-elected PCC will start their four-year term on 9 May.

PCCs are elected officials whose job is to help ensure police forces function effectively, but not to run those forces themselves.

They hold police forces to account and scrutinise their performance on behalf of the public.

Chief constables are appointed by them and they can dismiss them, if required.

It is also their job to set the annual budget for their force and decide the level of the slice of council tax dedicated to police funding, known as the police precept.


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