Cheshire's police commissioner did not breach the code of conduct by backing the Labour candidate in a recent Warrington by-election, a complaints committee has unanimously ruled.

Cheshire's police and crime panel's complaints management sub-committee met on Thursday night (October 30) to discuss three allegations against police and crime commissioner Dan Price (Lab) – and unanimously dismissed all of them, saying there was no case to answer.

The committee was made up of three Labour councillors, one Conservative, one Liberal Democrat and two co-opted independent members, who are not councillors.

The first complaint, from a member of the public, alleged Mr Price breached the code of conduct of his office by endorsing the Labour Party candidate for the Bewsey and Whitecross ward for Warrington Borough Council.

The panel was given legal advice that there is nothing to stop commissioners undertaking political activity, including campaigning, in their personal time.

Cllr David Brown (Cheshire East, Con) said the complaint 'beggars belief'.

"It's a politically elected post… probably 99.9 per cent of the police commissioners are affiliated to one of the big parties," said Cllr Brown.

"He's still a person, and as a person, he has personal rights and personal liberties and should be allowed to express them.

"To me, the fact that the chief executive has written in, and they've done a full investigation… means they've gone through a lot of effort to actually make sure that this has been done properly.

"So, I don't see there's any reason whatsoever that this complaint's got a leg to stand on."

Cheshire PCC Dan Price (Credit: OPCC)

Cllr Sam Naylor (CWAC, Lab) said: "I see it plain and simply as he's acting as a private individual, albeit he is the police and crime commissioner, in the way that he is entitled to do."

Cllr Bob Hignett (Warrington, Lib Dem) said: "As long as in his role as police commissioner he feels he's acting impartially, he's entitled to his political views, and he hasn't abused his role as police commissioner."

The other two complaints came from Reform councillor John Roddy (Warrington).

The first from Cllr Roddy – who was then a candidate in the by-election – was similar to that of the member of the public regarding backing the Labour candidate.

But Cllr Roddy said he had phoned the commissioner's office on July 24 to request a meeting and equal airtime and left a message which wasn't responded to.

Panel chair Gemma Shepherd-Etchells told last night's meeting although the commissioner's office said they had no record of the message they didn't dispute the call had been made.

Another complaint from Cllr Roddy, on behalf of Reform UK, was about remarks he said the commissioner made about Reform UK.

He also alleged the commissioner had 'misrepresented' crime statistics.

The panel said the commissioner had used annual data across Cheshire while Cllr Roddy had focused on a couple of months and specific wards.

Prof Barry Godfrey (co-opted) said: "No responsible statistician would take month on month… there's too much fluctuation, so when the commissioner talks about annual figures, that is the correct way to look at these things on an annual basis, rather than monthly.

"So, I think that bears out what the PCC was saying."

Cllr Brown said it was like comparing apples and pears.

Mrs Shepherd-Etchells said the panel found unanimously the commissioner 'hasn't failed to treat others with dignity and respect, he hasn't brought the office into disrepute, he hasn't used the authority of the PCC role improperly, and he hasn't breached the oath of office or contravened the Nolan Principles'.

On Friday (October 31), PCC Dan Price told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "I work hard to make sure I represent all residents in Cheshire.

"I won't be intimidated by Reform's obvious attempts to undermine me and the important role that PCCs have in community safety."