Patrick Canavan is the Labour and Co-operative party Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) candidate.

Patrick said: "I am a former trade union officer and spent much of my working life acting as an advocate on behalf of others.

"I am a law graduate, and currently the director of strategic development of a national governing body for a sports organisation.

"My previous roles have previously given me plenty of experience dealing with large organisations and bringing about effective change.

"The current PCC has been in post for some time and has indicated he is not seeking re-election. There will therefore be a change so we must ensure that Dorset Police continues to make progress and ensure we have a forward thinking and responsive force."

Patrick has been a previous parliamentary candidate and was the Labour candidate at the previous Dorset PCC election in 2016.

In his manifesto, Patrick wants to see:

• A greater focus on crime prevention by building resilient communities and ensuring a multi-agency approach to tackling anti-social behaviour and drug trafficking
• Increased support for victims to increase confidence to report crimes and that cases of domestic violence, abuse and hate crime will be acted on and prosecution rates increased
• To work with others in the criminal justice system to reduce re-offending and encouraging rehabilitation

Patrick added: "PCCs are always going to be subject to political pressure. The creation of the role in the first place was a political decision.

"The key task for whoever is elected is to comply with the legal requirement to act as independently and in the best interests of the people of Dorset."

The other candidates are Dan Hardy, Independent, David Sidwick, Conservative, Mark Robson, Liberal Democrats, and Claire Seymour, Green Party.

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