Police and Crime Commissioner Election

The election of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Kent will take place on Thursday 2 May. The elected candidate will serve as the PCC for a four-year term of office. 

In the period prior to the election, this area of our website will contain information which may be useful to potential candidates and members of the public regarding the election process, the role of Police and Crime Commissioners, relevant key documents, and information for prospective candidates.

The Kent Police Area is made up of the 13 district/borough/unitary councils in the county, which have Local Returning Officers who are responsible for arranging and delivering the poll for the electors in their area, including the Local Returning Officers for:

Police and Crime Commissioners are elected every four years using the ‘first-past-the-post’ voting system. The last PCC election took place on 6 May 2021.

The Police Area Returning Officer

The ‘Police Area Returning Officer’ (PARO) is responsible for dealing with candidates and agents, the conduct of the poll and collating the total result across the Kent Police Area and declaring the result.

The Chief Executive of Gravesham Borough Council, Stuart Bobby, has been appointed as the PARO, who is also the Local Returning Officer for the Gravesham area.

The PARO must always remain politically neutral. For this reason, we cannot provide political campaign or information about the candidates on these pages, however information about PCC candidates will be published on www.choosemypcc.org.uk after the publication of the Statement of Persons Nominated, which is due to be published on 8 April 2024.

The Role of Police and Crime Commissioners

PCCs have been elected by the public to hold the Chief Constable and the force to account, effectively making the police answerable to the communities they serve. They work in partnership across a range of agencies at local and national level to ensure there is a unified approach to preventing and reducing crime.

Further detailed information on PCC powers and responsibilities is available on the Home Office website.

Election timetable and notices

An election timetable can be downloaded from the Electoral Commission’s website.

Notices and statements will be published within the timescales listed below:

  • Notice of Election: Friday 22 March 2024
  • Notice of Poll and Statement of Persons Nominated: by 4pm 8 April 2024
  • Notice of Election Agents: by 4pm on 8 April 2024
  • Situation of Polling Stations: To be published by each Local Returning Officer on their respective websites, by Wednesday 24 April 2024
  • Declaration of results: Sunday 5 May 2024

Once published, all notices and statements will be listed on our election notices page.