The battle to become Hertfordshire’s first police commissioner is taking shape as the three main political parties have chosen their candidates to fight the election.

Three career politicians have been selected by the Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives to run for the £75,000-a-year position.

Residents will take to the polls to vote for the county’s first elected police commissioner in November.

The role will replace the Hertfordshire Police Authority, which currently oversees the county’s force.

All of the three politicians running for the new role have sat, or currently sit, on the police authority.

The Conservatives have selected the current chairman of the authority, David Lloyd, to run for police commissioner.

Mr Lloyd is also a Conservative county councillor for, and deputy of, Hertfordshire County Council .

He was unavailable for comment at the time the Watford Observer went to press.

The Liberal Democrats have also chosen a county councillor from Hemel Hempstead who sits on the police authority, Ron Tindall.

His candidacy is set to be officially confirmed by a ballot of Hertfordshire Liberal Democrat members next month.

Speaking about his campaign for police commissioner, Councillor Tindall said: "I want to set out a distinctive Liberal Democrat approach to policing.

"It is important to support local police teams, working in partnership with district crime and safety partnerships.

"Victims, witnesses and young offenders need to be well served in the justice journey, with restorative justice a key element in both lowering re-offending rates and ensuring those who suffer crime feel they have been able to secure justice."

It will be a councillor from Stevenage, Sherma Batson, who will fight the police commissioner election for Labour.

She said if elected she would improve the police engagement with communities by going out and listening to residents’ concerns across the county.

Ms Batson also called on her opponent David Lloyd to resign his role as chairman of the police authority claiming it would give him an unfair advantage in the November election.

She said: "If it were me in that position I would feel there was a conflict of interest. People in the police authority, especially the chairman, are privy to all sorts of information others are not."