Mark Grosvenor McNeill Shelford (born November 1961) is a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician and former lieutenant colonel in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, who served as the

Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner The Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Avon and Somerset Police in the English unitary authorities of Bristol, Bath and Nor ...

from

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

until

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Biography

Shelford served in the British Army between 1981 and 2013, eventually retiring at the rank of lieutenant colonel. This included service in the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

as the aide-de-camp to Brigadier Patrick Cordingley. Shelford was elected to

Bath and North East Somerset Council Bath and North East Somerset Council is the local authority for Bath and North East Somerset, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also pe ...

for the Lyncombe ward in the

2015 election Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African g ...

. He held this position until

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, where he was defeated by the Liberal Democrat candidate. He is also a member of the Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Panel, and the Avon Fire Authority.

Police and Crime Commissioner

Shelford was elected on the second round of voting in the 2021 PCC election. In 2022, along with other South West PCCs, Shelford announced that police on the region would crack down on dealers and users of recreational drugs. Some experts criticised the PCC's calls to reclassify cannabis from Class B to Class A. In 2023, Avon and Somerset Chief Constable, Sarah Crew, claimed that the force had institutional racism. Shelford endorsed her claims and said he supported her leadership. Shelford supported the chief constable in enabling the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

series ''

To Catch a Copper ''To Catch a Copper'' is a 2024 British documentary series about investigations into officer misconduct within the Avon and Somerset Police. The series has three episodes, which are themed around mental health, race, and sex crimes. Concerns incl ...

'' to have behind-the-scenes access at the police Counter-Corruption Unit. Some members of the Avon and Somerset Police Federation said they felt "utterly betrayed" and "unsupported" by this decision and the resultant program. Shelford supported the re-establishment of local

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

s in the area, which had been cut during budget cuts in the 2010s, such as in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. Shelford stood in the 2024 PCC election, but was defeated for re-election by the Labour party.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shelford, Mark 1961 births Police and crime commissioners in England Living people Conservative Party police and crime commissioners Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Somerset