Conservative Police Fire and Crime Commissioner for Northants, Stephen Mold, must resign and restore confidence in that office.
Mold appointed his close friend Ms Nicki Marzec to be the Chief Fire Officer, although she has no operational experience in fire or rescue. Ten days later, following a media storm, she resigned.
Mold did not follow the process when appointing his mate, he did follow the rules for the appointment of her replacement by having a confirmation hearing from the Police Fire and Crime Panel. This is a statutory requirement as confirmed by Mr Mold on when he wrote to the Panel setting out his legal obligations on 26 July. All that was true three weeks earlier.
