SURREY’S Police and Crime Commissioner Kevin Hurley has accused his election rivals of conspiring against him after two “unknown” independent candidates entered the race this week.

A total of seven candidates have declared themselves to run in the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) election for the Surrey Police area on Thursday, May 5.

These include Surrey’s reigning PCC Kevin Hurley (Zero Tolerance Policing), Howard Kaye (Labour), Paul Kennedy (Lib Dems), David Munro (Conservative) and Julia Searle (UKIP) - all of whom announced their nominations prior to last week’s deadline.

However, two additional independents - Jamie Goldrick and Camille Juliff - also appeared on the final list of candidates published last Friday, which Mr Hurley claims is a deliberate ploy to confuse voters.

“Oh what a surprise to see two unknown independent candidates suddenly nominate for the PCC election,” Mr Hurley posted on his personal Facebook page following the announcement.

“Look carefully, their names start with G and J that puts them either side of me on the ballot sheet. Now we all know that these could confuse and split the vote of people that don’t want to vote for the very big political party don’t we?”

It comes after Mr Hurley almost pulled out of the race last week when the police area returning officer for Surrey allowed an appeal against his use of a PO Box address on his nomination form.

Last Thursday, Mr Hurley declared he would not stand if he had to publish his home address, over fears that as an ex-police officer and soldier he is a target for terrorists. However, he later confirmed he will stand for re-election after a sports club in East Molesey allowed him to use its address for his candidacy.

Mr Hurley also revealed this week that an unknown party has submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Electoral Commission seeking details of his electoral affairs during the last election, “obviously to try and find a discrepancy”.

He continued: “If you were a conspiracy theorist you could say that there is a lot of effort and money being put into trying to stop me being your PCC again.

“I am sure the two last minute independent candidates will be excellent, they’ve clearly been planning to do this for months but have been a bit shy in saying so. There couldn’t be anything else behind all of this could there?”

According to his Facebook page, Jamie Goldrick, 51, is an expert in drug and alcohol prevention, and claims to have written the Surrey Police Drug Strategy as well as a gambling and alcohol impact policy for a London borough council.

If elected he has vowed to prioritise more visible policing and use his experience to tackle the blight of drug and drink abuse.

The second independent candidate, Camille Juliff, has worked in the Surrey Police coroner service for 14 years and served in the Army for 12 years as a senior detective in the Special Investigation Branch of the Military Police.

On her website www.camillejuliff.co.uk, she describes herself as a “truly independent candidate” free of political bias, whose goals revolve around a common sense approach that “prevention is better than cure”.

For more information about each candidate standing in this May’s election, visit the national government website www.choose

mypcc.org.uk. Voters can also download candidate information booklets from the website, order a copy online or by phoning 0800 1070 708.

All households should have recently received information confirming who is registered to vote at their address. Eligible voters who are not listed will need to register themselves by Monday (April 18) online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Registering now also ensures eligible voters can vote in the European Referendum on Thursday, June 23. Another benefit of registering can include improving your credit rating as credit reference agencies check the electoral register for address information.

The role of Police and Crime Commissioners started in November 2012 and they are responsible for holding the chief constable and the police force to account on the public’s behalf, overseeing how crime is tackled in their area, and aiming to make sure the police are providing a good service. 

John Jory, chief executive of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is the Police Area Returning Officer responsible for the PCC elections in the Surrey police force area.

He said: “Anyone not yet registered to vote should do so as soon as possible so they can have their say on issues that affect their day-to-day lives. It only takes a few minutes to complete the form and register to vote online.

“If you are not sure if you are registered you need to contact the electoral registration office at your local district or borough council. You can choose to vote by post, but your electoral registration office must receive an application by 5pm on April 19.”

The successful candidate for the Police and Crime Commissioner elections will be announced on Friday, May 6.