Candidates target Ely as election campaign heats up

THE battle to become the county’s first Police and Crime Commissioner is starting to intensify, with candidates visiting Ely in a bid to sway voters’ minds.

Last week, UKIP’s Paul Bullen brought his double-decker campaign bus into the city to catch up with voters while, this week, Conservative candidate Sir Graham Bright dropped in on market day to meet traders.

He said: “The role of Police and Crime Commissioner is to represent the public to the police and not the other way around so it is important that we speak to as many people as possible.

“Anti-social behaviour is top of the list of concerns among people here in Ely, as it is across the county, and it seems to be something that only a few people are involved in but it’s something that affects the majority and their view of the city.”

Sir Graham, who lives in Fordham, said that he believed his experience as an MP would stand him in good stead for the role.

The election takes place on November 15, with seven candidates standing for the post in Cambridgeshire.

Running alongside Paul Bullen (UKIP) and Sir Graham (Conservative) will be Ansar Ali (independent), Stephen Goldspink (English Democrat), Farooq Mohammed (independent), Rupert Moss-Eccardt (Liberal Democrat) and Ed Murphy (Labour).