WATCH: Conservative Matthew Ellis re-elected Staffordshire PCC
Conservative Matthew Ellis was this afternoon re-elected as Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner in a close contest with Labour's George Adamson.
Mr Ellis won after two rounds of voting which saw him go head-to head with the Cannock Council leader.
Conservative Mr Ellis said he now wanted to finish the job he started after he became the county's first PCC in 2012.
Mr Ellis polled exactly 75,000 votes after the second round of voting compared to the Cannock Council leader's 66,515.
He said: "It was a little bit suspense at the end but I am delighted to win and now it is important to continue the good work that we have been doing and finish the job that I have started.
"It is very important our focus turns to putting all the resources into front line policing we can.
"I would like to thank everyone who voted for me, who helped on the campaign and the other candidates."
Mr Adamson, who was a police officer in the Black Country for 17 years, said not enough voters knew there was an election going on.
He said: "On the campaign trail we visited a lot of Labour voters and they were totally unaware that there was an election.
"I think that shows that there is little known about the PCC's role."
Turnout was up to 21.57 per cent up from 11 per cent four years ago - then the lowest in the country.
Four years ago there was just two candidates but this year there was five with UKIP's Harold Gregory, the Green Party's Paul Woodhead, and independent Natalie Devaney who retired as a constable from Staffordshire Police after 30 years just eight months ago.
No candidate was able to win the 50 per cent plus one vote needed to win outright meaning the counting went to a second round.
Mr Ellis and Mr Adamson advanced to the final round with Mr Gregory, Mr Woodhead and Ms Devaney being eliminated and the second preference votes on their ballot papers redistributed.
In the first round Mr Ellis polled 63,123 votes, Mr Adamson got 54,753, Mr Gregory 27,550, Ms Devaney 22,155, and Mr Woodhead 6,527.
But the gap of 8,370 was too much for Labour to make up.
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Mr Ellis won the polls in Lichfield, South Staffordshire, Stafford, East Staffordshire, Tamworth, and Staffordshire Moorlands.
Whereas Mr Adamson triumphed in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Stoke, and his home turf in Cannock.
The poor turnout in Stoke, just 15 per cent, was a major factor in Mr Adamson's defeat - he needed to win big here to have any chance of ousting Mr Ellis whose backing in the Tory shires and the key town of Stafford carried him through.
Mr Woodhead was upbeat having won a place on Cannock Chase Council the previous evening as a Green councillor for Hednesford South.
The job has a salary of £75,000.
It has also been confirmed Sue Arnold will continue as Mr Ellis's deputy.
Candidates also expressed concerns over whether the voting system was too complicated after 4,000 ballots were rejected in the first round and nearly 7,000 in the second round.
Mr Ellis said: "The number of rejected ballots does cause concern and I think the voting system will be looked into."
