Matt Taylor, the Police & Crime Commissioner candidate for Sussex has called for a public debate between all prospective candidates.

He says, “With only 4 months to go before elections on 15th November 2012, we must act now to let the public know these elections are happening. After all, they mark the biggest change to policing in a life-time and they should be aware how its going to effect us all.”

An eclectic mix of candidates, with histories as local councillors, police authority members, military officers, business people, independents and social change advocates, are all vying for the role, which offers whooping £85,000 per year wage.

The Labour party in Sussex have declared Cllr Godfrey Daniels (Hastings councillor and Sussex Police Authority member,) as their chosen candidate, with the Conservative party choosing Peter Jones (Leader of East Sussex County Council) as theirs. Other candidates include, Colin Field (Funeral Director, Magistrate and former High Sheriff of West Sussex), Antony Kimber (former army officer), George Lee (former police Chief Inspector and businessman), Ian Chisnall (independent street pastor), Nigel Goodyear (Eastbourne Tory Councillor) and David Neilson (victim of police corruption and cover-up).

Matt Taylor continues, “We (the candidates) have a responsibility to the public to get together and organise a county-wide tour, where we can explain what the role of Police and Crime Commissioner is, how we are each the best person for the role and the Supplementary Voting (SV) system being used to decide the winner.”

The Electoral Commission has set the election spending limit for Sussex at £219,983. With the prospect of a secured term of 4 years and a mandate to tackle crime, you can bet you'll hear more about the candidates, the closer the election gets.

Asked whether Matt Taylor has got the spending power to match the Conservative and Labour parties, he answers, “I'm spreading the word over the internet having set up Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube pages, which publicise all my election campaigns. But the internet reaches only so many people. Now is the time to get out and meet the public face-to-face. I'm going to need a miracle to win this election and the public are the miracles I believe in.”

Commenting on the other candidates he says, “Of course, everyone wants a fair and open election. I'm not going to sling any mud at anyone. Though I am going to keep true to my values and speak out against another candidate's policies if need be. Above all else, I want to wish everyone luck and may the best man or woman win. I've got a feeling its going to be emotional...”

For further information on Matt Taylor, check out www.sosparty.co.uk.