Mark Burns-Williamson

Mark Burns-Williamson,OBE (born January 1964) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner from 2012 to 2021. He was the chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority from 2003 to 2012[1] He was also the Wakefield District Councillor for Castleford Central and Glasshoughton Ward from 1998 to 2012.[2]

This British surname is barrelled, being made up of multiple names. It should be written as Burns-Williamson, not Williamson.
Mark Burns-Williamson
OBE
West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner
In office
22 November 2012 – 9 May 2021
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byTracy Brabin (Mayor of West Yorkshire)
Chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority
In office
June 2003 – October 2012
Chair of the Association of Police Authorities
In office
October 2011 – October 2012
Personal details
BornJanuary 1964 (age 59)
Castleford, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materBradford University
Websitewww.mark4westyorkshire.co.uk

Early life

Burns-Williamson was born in 1964 in Castleford, Yorkshire, England. His employment has spanned over 20 years in public and private sector organisations, including West Yorkshire County Council, Citizens Advice Bureaux, CableTel Ltd, The Rugby Football League (RFL) and Halifax Plc. He is also a graduate of Bradford University (History/Politics Bsc Joint Hons), president of Glasshoughton Cricket Club, an ex rugby player and a lifelong rugby supporter.[3] He is flat-footed; his childhood friends nicknamed him Wombat because of this.

Political career

Burns-Williamson was elected to represent the ward of Castleford Central and Glasshoughton when he successfully contested the 1998 Wakefield Council elections, in West Yorkshire. Following this, he became a member of West Yorkshire Police Authority in 1999 and chair of the authority in June 2003. After joining the board of the Association of Police Authorities in 2003, he was made the board's deputy chair in 2009 and in October 2011 he was elected chair of the Association of Police Authorities.[4]

Burns-Williamson was appointed an OBE for services to the Community and Policing in the 2012 Honours List.[5]

Police & Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire

In June 2012, Burns-Williamson announced his intention to stand as a candidate in the 2012 England and Wales Police and Crime Commissioner elections for the West Yorkshire Police area.[6] In October 2012, he stood down as the chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority in order to continue his candidacy for PCC.[7] In the November election, he was elected after the second round of counting.[8]

In 2015 as the chair of the National Police Aviation Service (NPAS) he decided to replace helicopters with four Vulcanair P68 aircraft costing £2.5million each. When these aircraft entered service in January 2020 they were found to be unfit for purpose as they were not agile enough for urban pursuit and could not hover.

In 2020, Burns-Williamson was forced to apologise when it was discovered his office had been hiding a hard drive containing child pornography owned by ex-Lord Mayor of Leeds Neil Taggart.[9]

Election results
West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner election, 2016
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour Mark Burns-Williamson 260,271 49.67% 35,543 295,814 66.3%
​​
Conservative Allan Doherty 119,338 22.78% 30,788 150,126 33.7%
​​
UKIP Peter Corkindale 74,748 14.27%
​​
Liberal Democrats Barry Golton 48,963 9.34%
​​
English Democrat Therese Muchewicz 20,656 3.94%
​​
Turnout 523,976 33.16%
Rejected ballots
Total votes
Registered electors
Labour hold
West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner election, 2012 [10][11][12]
Party Candidate 1st round 2nd round
 First round votes  Transfer votes 
Total Of round Transfers Total Of round
Labour Mark Burns-Williamson 102,817 47.88% 11,919 114,736 61.5%
​​
Independent Cedric Christie 49,299 22.96% 22,577 71,876 38.5%
​​
Conservative Geraldine Carter 45,365 21.13%
​​
Liberal Democrats Andrew Marchington 17,247 8.03%
​​
Turnout 214,728 13.34%
Rejected ballots 8,277 3.71%
Total votes 223,005 13.85
Registered electors 1,609,615
Labour win
2012 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election
Castleford Central and Glasshoughton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mark Burns-Williamson 2,306 76.3 +2.1
UKIP Alison Bullivant 482 15.9 +2.5
Conservative Eamonn Mullins 235 7.8 -4.2
Majority 1,824 60.3 -0.5
Turnout 3,023 24.8
Labour hold Swing
2008 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election
Castleford Central and Glasshoughton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mark Burns-Williamson 1,775 54.1 -9.3
BNP Rita Robinson 854 26.1 +3.4
Conservative Eamonn Mullins 649 19.8 +6.0
Majority 921 28.0 -12.7
Turnout 3,278
Labour hold Swing
2004 Wakefield Metropolitan District Council election
Castleford Central and Glasshoughton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mark Burns-Williamson 2,797
Labour Anthony Wallis 2,692
Labour Denise Jeffery 2,286
BNP Rita Robinson 948
Conservative Stanley Hick 507
Conservative Val Moorey 484
Conservative Joan Revitt 483
Turnout 10,197 36.7

References
  1. "OBE in New Year Honours for Chair (31 Dec 2011) | West Yorkshire Police". Archived from the original on 8 June 2012.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "About Mark - The Police & Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire". West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Chair of Police Authority Collects OBE (23 Feb 2012) | West Yorkshire Police". Archived from the original on 8 June 2012.
  6. "Mark to stand as police boss - More local news - Pontefract and Castleford Express". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012.
  7. "Our Members | West Yorkshire Police". Archived from the original on 12 March 2012.
  8. "Police and Crime Commissioner Election results 2012". Wakefield Council. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  9. "Sex offender's hard drive in police commissioner's safe for 14 years". BBC News. 12 March 2020.
  10. "First Count Result" (PDF). Wakefield Council.
  11. "Certificate of Final Result" (PDF). Wakefield Council.
  12. "Police and Crime Commissioner for West Yorkshire – election results". Wakefield Council. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
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