Cllr Edna Murphy announced as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the upcoming Cambridgeshire Police and Crime Commissioner election.

Experienced Leader Vows to Make Communities Safer, Build Trust, and Prioritise Effective Policing

The Liberal Democrats today announced that their candidate for the 2024 Police and Crime Commissioner election in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is to be Cllr Edna Murphy.

Edna Murphy brings a unique blend of expertise and insight to the role of Police and Crime Commissioner. She served as a Magistrate in Cambridge for over 25 years, including many years chairing the Youth Court, and she currently chairs the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority, recognised as one of the most successful and respected in the country.

 Responding to her selection, Councillor Murphy highlighted her key priorities:

“The police need to do more on persistent problems such as sexual assault and on new priorities such as fraud. Victims of those crimes currently report to the police just one in six or one in seven of the crimes they experience, which shows just how low victims’ confidence is in the service. That needs massively to improve.

"Recent years have seen too many cuts in criminal justice expenditure. I am calling for better funding for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough police. Under the Tories, we have the seventh lowest funding per head of population in the country and the third lowest number of staff per 1,000 population. Cambridgeshire is low on the priority list for this Tory Government and residents deserve better.

“I'll fight not just for fair funding but also for smarter spending, moving away from policies that don’t work to reduce crime, such as short prison sentences for non-violent offenders, and towards solutions that truly make us safer by making it less likely that any of us will be victims of crime in the future.

“I'll champion effective crime reduction strategies such as restorative justice, tackling prolific offenders, and evidence-driven policing. Above all, I'll ensure that the police are proactive and treat victims with respect, not just as statistics.”