Unpacked – Clare Moody: policing, power and a political cancellation

About this episode

Clare Moody discusses her experience as a police and crime commissioner and the implications of her political cancellation.

How does the Labour politician who oversees policing in Avon and Somerset feel about being cancelled by her own party after less than 18 months in office? This week we’re talking to Clare Moody, Avon & Somerset’s police and crime commissioner (PCC), who beat her Conservative predecessor Mark Shelford by 5,000 votes in 2024, albeit on a low turnout of 23%. In November, as we were finalising the guest booking, policing minister Sarah Jones announced that the Starmer government would be scrapping PCCs, which were set up under the Tories in the 2010s, with a statement calling the role a "failed experiment". The Police Federation, which represents the rank and file, backed the move. In this first Unpacked of 2026, Neil asks Moody about whether her job still matters, and what comes next, about the state of policing nationally and here in Bristol, and about what forces need to do to regain the trust of communities they serve. Enjoy. The Bristol Cable is Bristol's community-owned cooperative newsroom – fiercely independent journalism that puts people before profit. Since 2014, we've been holding power to account through investigative reporting, community campaigns, and democratic…

People in this episode

Host: Neil

Guest: Clare Moody

Topics covered

• policing
• politics
• community trust
• Labour party
• PCC
• Bristol

Keywords

• Clare Moody
• policing
• PCC
• Labour
• Bristol
• community trust
• political cancellation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Labour, Avon & Somerset, Conservative, Starmer government, Police Federation

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