SEVEN candidates are in the running to secure the job of Hampshire police and crime commissioner to oversee policing in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for the next four years.

Initiated in 2012, to replace the council-led police authority, the then £85,000-per-year post eventually went to the vote on November 15 and the current incumbent, Simon Hayes, took up office on November 22, 2012.

Three years and six months on and the electorate are being asked to vote on May 5 to find his successor.

The election will be determined using the supplementary voting system, used for the election of a single candidate, under which each voter ranks from among the list of candidates a first and a second preference. All the first choices are then counted, and if a candidate has a majority, they are elected. If no candidate receives a majority, the top two candidates continue to a second round and all other candidates are eliminated.

The second-choice votes of everyone whose first choice has been eliminated are then counted. Any votes for the remaining candidates are then added to their first-round totals. Whichever candidate has the most votes after these second-preferences have been allocated is declared the winner.

Police and crime commissioners do not run the police, but are responsible for holding the chief constable to account for the public.

A police and crime commissioner is expected to:

* Produce a police and crime plan setting out local policing priorities.

* Set the local policing budget and decide how money will be spent.

* Appoint chief constables and remove them if needed.

Elections will take place in 41 police force areas across the UK on May 5, including Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, which is the force area responsible for East Hampshire.

The official list of candidates for Hampshire after the close of nominations is: Richard James Adair (Liberal Democrat); incumbent Simon Hayes (Independent); councillor and Greatham resident, Don Jerrard (Independent); Mich-ael George Lane (Conservative); Robin Andrew Price (Labour); Roy Swales (UKIP), and Steve Watts (zero-tolerance-policing ex chief).