Conservatives in Herts have confirmed that current county police and crime commissioner David Lloyd will be the Tory candidate at next May’s election.

Mr Lloyd, who had previously served as chairman of the county police authority, secured the job at the first-ever crime commissioner poll in 2012, comfortably beating Labour candidate Sherma Batson from Stevenage.

But the turnout for the inaugural poll was a disappointing 14 per cent in Herts, with critics saying that creating a county commissioner answerable to the electorate was an expensive and misguided exercise.

Tory chairman for the county Graham McAndrew said: “Members were impressed both by his record and his plans for the future and we are convinced he can continue to do an excellent job.”

If re-elected in May, Mr Lloyd has promised to continue to protect neighbourhood policing and hopes to build on his work of putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system.

He said: “During my time in office I believe I have shown what an important role Police and Crime Commissioner is and that it can make a real difference.

“I am pleased to say that Hertfordshire remains an extremely safe place to live with the highest levels of public satisfaction with the police in the country.

“I have ensured that this has been achieved at the same time as meeting challenging savings targets through improved efficiency. The residents of Hertfordshire have not had to pay a single penny more for policing whilst I have been in office.

“Most importantly I have protected our neighbourhood policing model. I believe it plays a vital role in keeping crime low and it’s also the style of policing the public tell me they prefer.

“In many other counties local policing is being compromised to meet financial targets but I am determined that this will not happen in Hertfordshire. If re-elected, protecting neighbourhood policing will remain my priority.

“However, no matter how good our policing is there will always be some people who are unfortunate enough to become victims of crime. As PCC I believe I have made a good start in my goal of putting victims at the heart of the criminal justice system but there are new opportunities to take that process a lot further and I am determined to grasp them if I win a second term.

“The Beacon Victim Care Centre which I launched in April is already proving a great success with thousands of victims of crime already provided with support.

“The next stage is to develop a new range of services to transform the victims’ experience of the criminal justice system and make sure their needs are met.”