17 November 2012 Last updated at 06:45 ET

Kent PCC election: Independent Ann Barnes elected

Ann Barnes was one of six candidates vying for the position of Kent's police and crime commissioner

Independent Ann Barnes has been elected as Kent's first police and crime commissioner (PCC).

The former Kent Police Authority chairwoman beat Conservative Craig Mackinlay on second preference votes.

Ms Barnes said the real winners were "the people of Kent who did not want their police force to be politicised".

Analysis Louise Stewart Political editor, South East

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In Kent and Sussex, as elsewhere across the country, many people simply didn't bother to vote for the new role of Police and Crime Commissioner with only around one in six actually going to the polls.

Perhaps because the main parties failed to mobilise support the big winner were the independents.

Ann Barnes, who led Kent police authority for six years, was one of them. She beat her Tory rival Craig Mackilay by 114,137 votes to 60,248. Her election will be a blow to the Conservatives. This was David Cameron's flagship policy.

The Tories have always been seen as the party of law and order and to be roundly beaten in the Conservative heartland of Kent shows there is no room for apathy. This was not a general election but is suggests they cannot take their traditional support for granted.

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She will take over responsibility for overseeing Kent Police, appointing and dismissing the chief constable and setting the budget.

Official figures show there was a turnout of 204,917 out of an electorate of 1,281,239, which is 16%.

Steve Uncles (English Democrats), Piers Wauchope (UKIP), Harriet Yeo (Labour), and Dai Liyanage (Ind) were eliminated after votes were counted in the first round.

The Kent count was co-ordinated at Dover Town Hall, but votes were counted at locations in each of the county's 13 local council areas.

Under the supplementary vote system being used in the election, voters could select first and second choices with the candidates' first-preference votes counted initially.

As there was no overall majority, all except the top two candidates were eliminated.

The eliminated candidates' second-preference votes for the remaining two were then added to their running totals, determining the winner.

KENT: Ann Barnes (Independent) elected
Turnout does not include spoilt ballots
Turnout: 204,917 (16%)
Second round
Candidate	Party	Final total	%	Status
Ann Barnes	Independent	114,137	65.5	Elected
Craig Mackinlay	Conservative	60,248	34.5
First round
Candidate	Party	1st pref	%	2nd pref
Ann Barnes	Independent	95,901	46.8	18,236
Craig Mackinlay	Conservative	51,671	25.2	8,577
Harriet Yeo	Labour	23,005	11.2
Piers Wauchope	UKIP	15,885	7.8
Steve Uncles	English Democrats	10,789	5.3
Dai Liyanage	Independent	7,666	3.7