16 November 2012 Last updated at 13:56 ET

Lancashire PCC elections: Labour's Clive Grunshaw wins

Clive Grunshaw will be responsible for setting priorities for Lancashire Police and overseeing its budget

Labour's Clive Grunshaw has been elected Lancashire's first police and crime commissioner (PCC).

He beat Tim Ashton from the Conservative party after second preference votes were counted as neither managed to get 50% of votes.

He will be on a salary of £85,000 and responsible for setting priorities for Lancashire Police, overseeing its budget and hiring the chief constable.

The turnout for the PCC ballot was 15%.

'Deliver proper policing'

Mr Grunshaw, who will hold the role for four years, will officially replace the Lancashire Police Authority (LPA) on 22 November.

The former milkman has been chair of resources on the LPA panel for four years and said his new position was a "huge opportunity to deliver proper policing to the people of Lancashire".

He said it was a "new era for policing" but admitted the turnout was "disappointing".

Mr Grunshaw received 79,790 votes (52.1%) in the second round of the ballot while Mr Ashton received 73, 262 votes (47.9%).

Analysis

Chris Rider BBC Lancashire political reporter

---

So in the end it came down to national politics with Labour coming out on top, something of an irony given the party were against the whole idea.

The government's hope that this election would bring in fresh faces and fresh ideas hasn't come off here in Lancashire. We have ended up with what some may say is the old guard.

Chief Constable Steve Finnigan and Police Authority member Clive Grunshaw have known each other for a while, a solid partnership but hardly a revolutionary change.

The success of UKIP in beating the Liberal Democrats in all the local counts but one is interesting and their growing influence cannot be overlooked.

The low turnout was expected and hardly a glowing mandate for Mr Grunshaw who has some interesting challenges ahead.

He also topped the first count with 66,017 (39.28%) votes while Mr Ashton received 58,428 (34.76%).

Robert Drown, representing the UK Independence Party, finished third in the ballot with 25,228 votes (15.01%).

Liberal Democrat Afzal Anwar finished last with 18,396 votes (10.95%).

Mr Ashton congratulated Mr Grunshaw for getting elected and said he respected "the people of Lancashire had spoken" in the ballot.

He said: "Policing will be better for this position."

Chief Constable of Lancashire Constabulary, Steve Finnigan, also congratulated Mr Grunshaw on his win.

He said: "I am confident that Clive Grunshaw and I will be able to build a professional and effective working relationship that will help us to collectively ensure that the county remains a safe place in which to live, work and visit."

"I'd also like to pay tribute to the work of the police authority, which has left a strong legacy in place for the commissioner to now progress," added Mr Finnigan.

The result was announced at King George's Hall in Blackburn.

'Crazy to choose mid-November'

Speaking at the count, Blackburn MP Jack Straw said blamed the government for a "lamentable" turnout.

"It is the fault of the government for constructing them in this system in the first place.

"It was crazy to voluntarily choose mid-November for the election. It is cold, it is dark, the clocks have gone back."

The former home secretary said: "This is a very poor start for these police commissioners, whichever party they come from."

LANCASHIRE: Clive Grunshaw (Labour) elected
Turnout does not include spoilt ballots
Turnout: 168,069 (15.0%)
Second round
Candidate	Party	Final total	%	Status
Clive Grunshaw	Labour	79,790	52.1	Elected
Tim Ashton	Conservative	73,262	47.9
First round
Candidate	Party	1st pref	%	2nd pref
Clive Grunshaw	Labour	66,017	39.3	13,773
Tim Ashton	Conservative	58,428	34.8	14,834
Rob Drobny	UK Independence Party	25,228	15.0
Afzal Anwar	Liberal Democrat	18,396	11.0