Firefighters protest against Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner's recent actions

Firefighters have turned up in their dozens to protest against Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold’s recent actions.

The rally, taking place outside The Guildhall in Northampton, comes after a turbulent couple of weeks for the commissioner.

The protest also coincides with members of Northamptonshire’s police, fire and crime panel meeting today (Thursday July 27), behind closed doors, to discuss Mr Mold’s actions. The panel was not convened to approve a controversial appointment of a friend of Mr Mold’s, Nicci Marzec. She lasted just ten days in the role, before resigning.

Mr Mold is due to attend the panel to confirm Simon Tuhill as interim chief fire officer, after Ms Marzec left.

Speaking ahead of the rally, Adam Taylor, Fire Brigades Union Executive Council representative for the East Midlands, said: “Stephen Mold must not be allowed to continue dragging out his disgraced tenure. The events of the past weeks have made it crystal clear: his position is untenable.

“Firefighters from across the region are outraged by this embarrassing fiasco. We anticipate a big turnout at the rally, and everyone who believes Stephen Mold should resign is invited to join. We will not stand for this, and the public are with us.

“We rightly expect firefighters to behave with honesty, dignity, and professionalism. Having the commissioner overseeing our service fail to meet any of these standards is a recipe for disaster.

“We call on the councillors sitting on this scrutiny panel to do the right thing and ensure that Stephen Mold is held to the highest account in a public, open meeting. The people of Northampton deserve nothing less.”

Ms Marzec had been appointed by Mr Mold after the shock resignation of former chief fire officer Mark Jones on July 7 – she then resigned on Monday (July 17).

In an interview with BBC Radio Northampton, he apologised for appointing Ms Marzec ‘with too much haste’ but denied he had broken rules by not consulting a panel of councillors and members of the public about it.

Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which opposed Ms Marzec’s appointment because she has no operational firefighting experience, was blamed by Mr Mold for undermining Ms Marzec.

More to follow from the rally.