Reform UK’s first police and crime commissioner (PCC) has called off a planned national theatre tour after backlash.
Colin Sutton, who was elected as Norfolk’s PCC in July, had been scheduled to travel across the UK in 2027 hosting a live stage production titled The Makings Of A Murderer – Double Jeopardy.
Event promoters posted 130 appearances online spread over 11 months.
Mr Sutton initially stood by the venture, asking: “Am I not entitled to spend my spare time as I wish?”
The former Metropolitan Police detective maintained he would be “incommunicado” for just two hours during the performances and insisted “the shows “would not impinge on my duties as PCC”.
Mr Sutton commands an annual salary of £79,052 for his role.
He said: “I’m not a blue light service where I go round and turn up at things.
“It’s a bit odd to suggest I can never leave Norfolk because I happen to be the PCC.”
Labour MP Ben Goldsborough, for South Norfolk, was among those criticising the decision, telling the BBC that “you can’t police a county from the back of a tour bus”.
During a North Norfolk District Council scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday, Mr Sutton confirmed he had pulled out of the nationwide tour, according to the BBC.
He told councillors: “What surprised me and what made me reflect and think again was the reaction that I got personally from a number of residents.
“I’m not sure I could do 127 dates because it was ridiculous, but I could have done some.
“What I don’t want to do is to give the impression to anybody that I don’t take this role seriously and I’m not going to do a good job on this.
“So, that’s why my decision has been: ‘OK, I’m not legally obliged to do this, I’m not going to do it’.”
Mr Sutton, who was a police officer for 30 years, led the investigation that brought serial killer Levi Bellfield to justice.
The government announced in 2025 that the role of police and crime commissioner will be scrapped in 2028 when the next nationwide elections are set to be held, in order to save at least £100 million.
