WHETHER we like it or not (and I am firmly in the ‘not’ camp) Gwent now has its first Police and Crime Commissioner.

Ian Johnston was sworn in yesterday and he now has the job of setting the budget for Gwent Police, deciding the priorities for the force via a police and crime plan, and holding the chief constable to account.

Mr Johnston, a former senior officer with the Gwent force, also has the power to hire and fire the chief constable.

I wish him well in his new role and he no doubt appreciates the scale of the task ahead of him.

Perhaps his biggest challenge, aside from the day-to-day responsibilities of the job, is to persuade the people of Gwent that he has a mandate for the role.

About seven per cent of those eligible to vote backed Mr Johnston.

As we all know, hardly anyone bothered to vote last week.

A pitiful turnout of 14 per cent across Gwent saw handfuls of people vote in some areas – and none at all at one polling station in Newport.

The overwhelming message – not just in Gwent but across the country – was that people had no interest in the role of PCC.

Yes, it was part of the Conservative manifesto at the last election. And though the Tories failed to win a majority it still became government policy, and the key plank in the coalition’s law and order reforms.

Yet where were ministers during the PCC election campaign? Where was the prime minister?

Certainly not out on the campaign trail with candidates.

The government railroaded through a policy that had virtually no public support and then did next to nothing to promote it.

There was no public money available to candidates for leaflet drops, as there are during general elections, and the only information available to the public was via a few television advertisements and a Home Office website.

And then David Cameron had the audacity to attack the media for failing to show an interest in the elections.

Trying to blame the media for the pitiful turnout at the polls is laughable.

If Mr Cameron is really looking for someone to blame he needs look no further than the mirror.

The reality is it was local newspapers like the Argus that provided voters with the most information about these elections.

We published candidates’ statements, explained the role of PCCs and the voting system, reported from hustings meetings, and ran our own online question and answer session with all four candidates.

It was us doing the government’s job.

Perhaps next time around we should ignore the PCC elections.

Let’s see what that does to turnout.

The mandate issue is a major one for all newly-elected PCCs. Mr Johnston and the other 41 commissioners, through no fault of their own, have been elected with extremely low levels of public support.

The government has been quick to say all PCCs have a mandate despite turnout. Yet this is the same government that says trade unions have no mandate for industrial action in similar circumstances.

It cannot have it both ways.

Mr Johnston will have to win public support by his actions and achievements in the role. It is far from a perfect situation, but it is not Mr Johnston’s fault that the elections were so badly run by the government.

He will continue to face questions about his ability to be truly independent given his previous long service with the force. He will have to deal with such questions head on.

But Mr Johnston is in the job.

The least he deserves is a little time, space and support to get on with the job.

Yes, few people voted him into office. But now Ian Johnston has the opportunity to win us all over.