Matt Storey has been elected as the Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner, ousting Conservative Steve Turner who has been in post since 2021. Storey won with 52.6% of the count compared to Turner’s 47.4%, giving a Labour majority of 6,441. The turnout was 29.7% of the electorate.
The Cleveland police area covers the authorities of Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool and Stockton. (A slight difference from Tees Valley Combined Authority which also includes Darlington).
Matt Storey
Storey’s plan for his new post is rooted in community policing, with each neighbourhood having a named officer. In addition, he aims to invest in domestic abuse support, reduce homelessness, create a retail crime strategy and restore integrity.
A Middlesbrough councillor since 2016, he sits on ten council committees and boards, and represents the town in half a dozen appointments to outside bodies
Up to his election, Storey has been the office manager for Andy McDonald, Middlesbrough’s Labour MP.
With the Stockton North Labour MP Alex Cunningham due to stand down, Storey put his name forward to be that constituency’s next Labour parliamentary candidate, but he lost to chemical engineer Chris McDonald.
Steve Turner
The Conservative outgoing PCC Steve Turner was first elected as a UKIP councillor in Redcar and Cleveland. In 2015, he defected to the Conservatives and ran the offices of local Tory MPs Simon Clarke and Jacob Young.
Prior to that he was a supermarket manager where he received a police caution in the 1990s after admitting handling stolen goods worth £15.
He lost re-election as a Redcar and Cleveland councillor in last year’s local polls. As did his wife Andrea Turner, the Leader of the Conservative Group, who only conceded defeat after three recounts.
In last year’s local elections, Turner used his position to make a police complaint that Labour had committed fraud by publishing a leaflet in blue. The police paid a visit to the Labour leader Alec Brown and other Labour activists, but eventually dropped the case. The stunt resulted in campaigning being suspended for a few days and some negative publicity against Labour.
Turner made another police complaint over a separate matter against Lee Holmes, a leading local Conservative who has fallen out with many former colleagues.
With powerful friends like Simon Clarke and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, it’s unlikely that Turner will retire from politics.
Cleveland has the worst crime rate in England and Wales, with 143.4 crimes per 1000 residents in 2023.
