North Yorkshire crime commissioner Julia Mulligan loses vote in bid to retain post

The decision came by way of a vote by Tory Party members at a public meeting held in Tadcaster this evening.

Ms Mulligan was elected as police and crime commissioner in 2012 and took over the governance of North Yorkshire’s fire and rescue service additionally last year. Her term in office ends in May 2020.

Due to the nature of the process at tonight’s meeting, the number of votes for and against her approval to be re-selected to stand for the role was not declared. The outcome provides an opportunity for other potential candidates to come forward to vie for a chance to succeed her.

The Yorkshire Post understands that the recruitment process for other candidates will commence after this May’s local elections and that Ms Mulligan is entitled to put herself forward for a place on the shortlist, should she wish.

The vote followed a warning from North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Panel that she will face closer financial scrutiny after setting the largest rise in the police element of council tax in living memory.

During her time in office, Ms Mulligan has had a complaint about bullying against her upheld by the county’s Police and Crime Panel, while in 2017 there was vehement opposition to her sale of North Yorkshire’s Grade II-listed police HQ near Northallerton to an outdoor education firm.

Ms Mulligan declined the opportunity to comment when contacted by The Yorkshire Post this evening.