Ben Adams | |
---|---|
Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner | |
Assumed office 13 May 2021 | |
Preceded by | Matthew Ellis |
Personal details | |
Born | Benedict Burne Adams [1] February 1965 (age 59) [2] Sutton Coldfield |
Political party | Conservative |
Benedict Burne Adams (born February 1965) is a British Conservative Party politician,and the current Staffordshire Police,Fire and Crime Commissioner. [3] [4] He was first elected to the post in May 2021,and re-elected in May 2024. [5]
Adams was born in Sutton Coldfield and left school aged 18 hoping to be a professional golfer,before studying with the Open University and working in information technology. [6]
From 2007,he held local government positions on Lichfield District Council and Staffordshire County Council. [6] [7] He was the Conservative parliamentary candidate for Stoke-on-Trent North at the 2015 and 2017 general elections,coming second to the Labour Party candidate Ruth Smeeth on both occasions. [8]
Adams was elected to the post of Staffordshire Police,Fire and Crime Commissioner in the 2021 elections,succeeding the previous incumbent Matthew Ellis. [7] In his first speech as commissioner,Adams vowed to put tackling youth knife,drug and gang-related crime high on his agenda. [9] He recommended Chris Noble for the role of Chief Constable at Staffordshire Police and Rob Barber for the post of Chief Fire Officer at Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service,and their appointments were confirmed later in 2021. [10]
Staffordshire Police was put into special measures by HMICFRS between June 2022 and May 2024. [11] During that period,Adams was criticised for failures by the force with regard to child protection on multiple occasions. [12] [13] He was also criticised over the police force's rise in the number of complaints. [14]
Adams was re-elected in the 2024 elections,with a small majority over the Labour candidate. [5] Before the campaign,pro-Palestinian protesters had been arrested at a fundraising event,with Adams condemning "use of intimidation and abuse,in an attempt to disrupt and undermine the democratic process". [15] The low turnout at the election prompted questions about Adams' mandate and salary. [16]
He represents the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners as a board member on the Fire Standards Board. [17]
With some police officers and staff having moved to a nearby fire station under the previous PFCC,Adams re-iterated plans to integrate fire and police further. [18] [19]
In 2023,Adams launched a public consultation into increasing the budget for police and fire services. [20]
In 2024,he emphasised organised crime as a priority,advocating significant increases to the money spent on preventative programmes and describing public support for organised crime as 'crucial'. [21] [22]
After electoral defeat for the Conservatives at the 2024 general election,Adams said the party should focus on "traditional Conservative values" and named Kemi Badenoch,Suella Braverman,Tom Tugendhat,Priti Patel,Robert Jenrick and Chris Philp as potential candidates to be the next leader of the party. [23]
Staffordshire Moorlands is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Karen Bradley,a Conservative who served as Secretary of State for Culture,Media and Sport between 2016 and 2018,before she became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2018 to 2019. As with all constituencies,the constituency elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election at least every five years. This seat saw a swing to the Conservatives at the elections from 2010–2019.
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Staffordshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of 11 local policing teams,whose boundaries are matched to the nine local authorities within Staffordshire.
Dame Karen Anne Bradley is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Staffordshire Moorlands since 2010 and the Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee since 2024. She served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2018 to 2019.
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The Staffordshire Police,Fire and Crime Commissioner,formerly the Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner is the police,fire and crime commissioner (PFCC),an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Staffordshire Police and the way fire and rescue services are managed by Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service,in the English county of Staffordshire. The post was created in November 2012,following an election held on 15 November 2012,and replaced the Staffordshire Police Authority. The incumbent,since 2021,is Ben Adams,who represents the Conservative Party.
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