16 November 2012 Last updated at 10:46 ET

North Yorkshire PCC election: Julia Mulligan wins

Mrs Mulligan said the low turnout reflected some people's confusion about the new role

Conservative Julia Mulligan has been elected as North Yorkshire's first police and crime commissioner (PCC).

Mrs Mulligan, a former local councillor and school governor, beat Labour's Ruth Potter by 47,885 votes to 34,328 votes.

The result comes after a low turnout, with figures showing just 13.3% of the electorate went to the polls.

The new PCCs, who are set to replace police authorities, will set spending plans and have the power to hire and fire chief constables.

Mrs Mulligan said: "I intend to work really hard to make sure I represent people fairly across all parts of North Yorkshire and without political prejudice."

Analysis

Nick Morris BBC North Yorkshire political reporter

---

It was always likely that North Yorkshire would be among the first of the 41 constabularies of England and Wales to declare a result.

Counters' thumbs risked no serious injury as they divided the ballots of a comparatively small electorate (618,781 registered voters) between just two piles.

The field of two also negated any prospect of further paper-shuffling by way of the Single Transferable Vote.

Julia Mulligan was the comfortable winner over her Labour rival. However, what might give North Yorkshire's first Police and Crime Commissioner pause for thought is the most eye-catching statistic of all behind the counting staff's easy morning of work: a turnout figure of just 13.3%.

She accepted turnout had been low and there had been a high number of spoilt ballots, more than 6,400.

"There have been some issues around understanding what this role is. It is my job to get out there and make sure that people see that this will make a big difference in their local areas."

One of Mrs Mulligan's first tasks when she takes up her post on 22 November will be to appoint a permanent chief constable.

Tim Madgwick was appointed to the post temporarily after the retirement of Grahame Maxwell in May.

North Yorkshire Police is the largest single county force in England with a population of some 800,000 people.

The force has 1,455 police officers, 178 support officers and 989 police staff and a budget of £144m.

Continue reading the main story

NORTH YORKSHIRE: Julia Mulligan (Conservative) elected
Turnout does not include spoiled ballots
Turnout: 82,213 (13.3%)
Candidate	Party	1st pref	%
Julia Mulligan	Conservative	47,885	58.3%
Ruth Potter	Labour	34,328	41.8%

Continue reading the main story

Turnout does not include spoiled ballots