Steve Hartshorn has been confirmed as the second national Federation chair to be voted in by police officers in England and Wales.
He was congratulated by Staffordshire branch chair Phil Jones who said he was looking forward to working with the newly-elected chair.
Phil said: “Steve becomes national chair in the midst of a very turbulent time for policing and will face many tough challenges in his new role.
“Most of our members feel undervalued and underpaid for the work they do and some are struggling to make ends meet as the cost-of-living crisis begins to bite.
“So we will give the incoming chair all the support he needs to ensure our voices are heard and we get the best possible deal for our members.
“The members have given Steve a clear mandate to take their Police Federation forward as a powerful organisation that fights hard to protect their interests.”
Steve joined the Metropolitan Police in 1995, before moving to the Met’s Firearms Command. He became a Federation rep because he wanted to help colleagues that were going through a difficult time.
He said: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been elected the next national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
“I would like to acknowledge the hard work of Brian Booth and Ché Donald for standing as candidates and running very strong campaigns - they have my respect for being professional throughout.
“My sincere thanks goes to everyone who voted for me, from the National Council nomination stage, to the membership for getting involved in the vote. The level of support and encouragement I have received has helped me through the process and means a great deal to me.
“I am looking forward to working with the National Council, the National Board and our members to seek the very best we can for policing, and with support, I genuinely believe we can make our voices heard to secure a better deal for policing.”
Steve took up his post today (1 April).
