Thames Valley police commissioner election candidate backs Labour rival in shock move

A candidate in the Thames Valley police and crime commissioner (PCC) election has backed his Labour rival in a shock twist.

Independent candidate Russell Fowler has told the public to elect Labour and Co-operative party candidate Tim Starkey in the 2 May vote.

Fowler said he would vote for Starkey, who he claimed in a written statement was ‘the only man who can be the new PCC’.

The independent candidate said: “He’s not a career politician. He’s a top barrister specialising in rape cases.

“He’s spent 25 years making the police accountable for their actions. He will bring the change the people of Thames Valley deserve.”

Fowler also pledged to help Starkey as an unpaid adviser on Thames Valley Police’s organisation, culture, performance and change in management.

The pair are standing in the election, alongside Matthew Barber (Conservative), Tim Bearder (Liberal Democrat) and Ben Holden-Crowther (More Police Officers for Thames Valley).

Fowler is a former diamond explorer for De Beers in Botswana, who has served on the boards of major companies and now lives in Gerrards Cross and runs an anti-fuel theft business FuelDefend Global Ltd from Chalfont St Peter.

If elected PCC, the Welshman has pledged to hire more police officers and change the culture of Thames Valley Police.

Starkey is a barrister, who has worked in the rape and serious sexual offences team at the Crown Prosecution Service and has over 20 years’ of criminal justice experience.

The PCC role includes setting a force’s budget, its priorities and holding it to account.