Michael Lane has been elected as the new Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
The Conservative candidate was a firm favourite on the Isle of Wight, securing 3,505 first choice votes and 1,531 second choice votes. Despite gaining the second highest amount of votes on the Island, outgoing commissioner Simon Hayes failed to make it to the final two with Islander Robin Price going up against Michael Lane this afternoon.
Across the whole region Lane received 153,990 first and second preferences, whilst Robin Price received 87,744.
The turnout on the Island was 17,106 – or 15.88%. Overall the turnout was 29%.
Island Echo covered the election count live from Medina Theatre.
Michael, from Gosport, has been married for 37 years to Alison and has two sons. He was a Commodore in the Royal Navy, serving for 30 years in challenging leadership roles. Michael then went on to become Hampshire County Council’s Regeneration Project Officer and then as a Coach on the Commissioner’s Leadership Programme of the Metropolitan Police Service. This experience led to Michael serving briefly on the Hampshire Police Strategic Independent Advisory Group (IAG).
From 2010-2014 Michael served as a councillor in Gosport and the Economic Development Chairman for the borough.
The Federation of Small Businesses are now urging Michael to put tackling business crime at the heart of his local policing plans.
Neil Eames, Development Manager for the FSB Wessex Region, said:
“With the average cost of crime to a business now at £5,898, and instances of cyber-crime on the rise, there is a real necessity to get a handle on this. We have been working positively with the PCCs Office and the Hampshire Constabulary, in order to raise the profile of crimes against business. We now look forward to having an opportunity to work with Michael in his new role as PCC, in order to ensure appropriate prioritisation of this type of crime.”
