A by-election for a West Midlands police and crime commissioner which saw just ten per cent of voters take part helped persuade Labour to scrap the post, it has emerged.

The West Midlands by-election was held on August 21 following the death of Bob Jones, the first West Midlands police and crime commissioner.

Labour candidate David Jamieson was elected on a turnout of just 10.38% .

Police and crime Ccmmissioners (PCCs) were introduced by the Coalition government in an attempt to provide democratic accountability to police forces, replacing police authorities.

Ministers argued that authorities, which included councillors nominated by local authorities, did not make police accountable because the public did not know about them.

But the introduction of commissioners was criticised by Labour on the grounds that they would politicise forces, and a single person could not represent the entire community in a force area.

Labour’s new proposal, to be set out by Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, involves creating a new body similar to a police authority but bringing together council leaders. The thinking is that by including leaders, rather than ordinary councillors, the bodies will have a higher profile.

Mr Dromey said:  “The West Midlands has had two fine police and commissioners in Bob Jones and now David Jamieson. What is clear however is that the model of PCCs is fundemanetaly flawed.

“Democratic accountability of the police is crucial and in future it will be to a board of elected leaders of local government.

“Other voices will also be represented on the board. In particular, victims’ champions.”

The final nail in the coffin for the policy was the refusal of South Yorkshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Shaun Wright to resigned over the Rotherham child abuse scandal. He eventually quit, in the wake of a report which found at least 1,400 children were abused in the town, but only after weeks of pressure.