A CONSERVATIVE North Yorkshire councillor has put his name forward to become the county’s first police and crime commissioner.

Mike Jordan, from Sherburn-in-Elmet, has applied to the party to stand as Tory candidate for North Yorkshire and York.

The Press understands York Conservative leader Ian Gillies has also expressed an interest in the role, but he declined to comment when contacted by The Press yesterday.

The commissioner role is a publicly elected post, which has been developed to work with the public, while governing the police forces in different areas, with the power to hire and fire chief constables and set budgets.

Coun Jordan said: “There’s a lot of competition for the role, which covers the North Yorkshire and York police boundary.

“In all honesty, no one knows exactly what the role is going to entail at the moment, because it’s very early days. I’d like to be in from the beginning to develop the role as you see fit. I think I can make a reasonable fist of it.”

Locally, Coun Jordan said North Yorkshire county councillors Carl Les and Jane Kenyon, who is also chair of the police authority, have shown an interest in the role, as has former police inspector Peter Walker.

Former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, ex-city council leader Colin Inglis and retired Humberside Police senior officer Keith Hunter have put their names forward for the Humberside position.

If selected by the Conservative Party to stand for the role, following an interview today, Coun Jordan would then campaign along with other candidates before a public election is held in November.

Coun Jordan said: “At the moment, there’s not a single person who is an elected official in the police force, and this role will change that.

“We need to get a feel for what the public actually want. The police take away some of the issues from community engagement forums.

“But this is taking the next step, having someone at the meetings that the council or communities can go to and say ‘we want the police to do this’.”