RESIDENTS across Dorset will have four candidates to choose from in this year’s Police and Crime Commissioner elections.

Current incumbent David Sidwick is the Conservative candidate, and he will stand to keep his seat when residents go to the polls on May 2.

Representing the Liberal Democrats, Howard Legg is standing, while David Stokes is the Labour and Co-operative Party’s candidate.

Marianne Storey is standing as an independent candidate.

The election will take place on Thursday, May 2.

The Police and Crime Commissioner’s role is to ‘deliver an effective and efficient police service in Dorset’.

They do this by ‘holding Dorset Police to account on behalf of local people’.

The PCC has a number of statutory functions and responsibilities that are set out in the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act of 2011.

This includes representing the views of the community with the police force, agreeing the annual policing budget and working with local partnerships and agencies to tackle wider community safety and criminal justice issues.

The PCC is supported by staff in the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC), which is a non-political and impartial organisation.

To vote, residents must be registered by Tuesday, April 16.