THE new West Mercia police and crime commissioner has vowed to be “the people’s commissioner”.

Bill Longmore topped the poll last Thursday. He said: “It is up to me to show this is a job that matters. When David Cameron first announced the position he said he wanted a man of the people, someone who had done something in the community.

“I think that does apply to me. I have always been the people’s man and I want to be the people’s commissioner.”

In the £75,000-a-year post Mr Longmore, aged 74, will be responsible for setting the force’s budget, policing priorities and hiring or firing the chief constable.

West Mercia Police’s chief constable David Shaw was among the first to congratulate him.