THE winner of the first ever Thames Valley police and crime commissioner election has been named as Conservative Anthony Stansfeld.

Mr Stansfield (pictured) has emerged victorious, beating Labour candidate Tim Starkey by 94,238 votes to 70,403 after the pair went head-to-head in a second round of counting after no single candidate gained more than 50% in the first round of counting.

Mr Stansfield enjoyed a lead of 19,380 votes after the first round of voting, but following the addition of the votes of those who voted for either candidate as their second prefence to the original totals, the Conservative extended his lead to 23,835 votes.

The Tory had topped the polls in 13 districts in the first round, with Mr Starkey winning in Reading, Slough and Oxford.

The turnout across the region was just 13.3% with 10.9% of Slough residents casting a ballot- the lowest in the county.

Mr Stansfeld will take up the role in May and his responsibilities will include setting the force's budget of around �400m and hiring and firing the chief constable.

The Thames Valley was one of more than 40 police force areas in England and Wales where commissioner elections have been taking place.

Independent candidate Geoff Howard finnished third, with Lib Dem John Howson fourth, UKIP's Barry Cooper fifth and independent Patience Tayo Awe sixth.

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