Quick Facts
Biography
Sue Mountstevens (born 1955) is a British independent politician. Since November 2012, she has been the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner. She is the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 November 2012, having stood as an independent candidate.
Biography
Before being elected as the police and crime commissioner, Mountstevens was an independent member of Avon and Somerset Police Authority (the body which, as Police and Crime Commissioner, she replaces), vice-chair of the Independent Monitoring Board for Bristol Prison and was a magistrate for 15 years. Earlier in her career she ran the Mountstevens Bakeries chain.
She has three children and lives near Pill, North Somerset.
Election as Police and Crime Commissioner
Mountstevens was elected to the role of Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner in the elections held on 15 November 2012, which used the supplementary vote system. She stood as an Independent and was elected on the second round, after second preference votes were counted. Mountstevens was the only Commissioner elected with a mandate exceeding 10% of the electorate, having been chosen by 10.1% of those eligible to vote. She took the oath of office on 21 November 2012.
| Avon and Somerset Police Commissioner election, 2012 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | 1st Round | % | 2nd Round | Total | First Round Votes Transfer Votes | |
| Independent | Sue Mountstevens | 83,985 | 35.81% | 41,719 | 125,704 | | |
| Conservative | Ken Maddock | 57,094 | 24.35% | 10,748 | 67,842 | | |
| Labour | John Savage | 49,989 | 21.32% | | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Pete Levy | 43,446 | 18.53% | | |||
| Turnout | 243,963 | 19.58% | of which 9,190 were spoilt votes. | ||||
| Independent win | |||||||
Decisions made in office
One of the powers of Police and Crime Commissioners is to appoint or dismiss the chief constable. On her second day in office, Mountstevens decided to invite applications for appointment to that role, to be taken up after the contract of the incumbent, Colin Port, expired in early 2013, rather than extending his appointment. Port then decided to retire rather than re-apply for the position. In January 2013, Mountstevens announced Nick Gargan as Port's successor; the appointment was subsequently approved by the relevant police and crime panel, and Gargan took up the appointment in March 2013.
After allegations of gross misconduct in May 2014, Chief Constable Nick Gargan was suspended for 18 months. In July 2015 he was cleared of the charges of gross misconduct, but was found guilty of eight counts of misconduct, and in August 2015 was handed eight final written warnings.
On 19 August 2015, Mountstevens accused Gargan of abusing his authority, and losing the confidence of staff and the public, and asked him to resign. In her statement, Mountstevens said Gargan was being required to resign or retire “due to a lack of confidence by local people, police officers and staff in his position as leader of Avon and Somerset constabulary”.