Steve Hartshorn becomes national Federation chair

South Wales Police Federation chair Steve Treharne has congratulated new national chair Steve Hartshorn on his election success.

Steve, a National Board member and firearms and Taser lead, becomes the second national chair to be elected by police officers in England and Wales and takes office today (1 April).

The South Wales branch chair said: “Steve becomes national chair at a key time in policing and there are a number of significant issues that need urgent attention.

“The most pressing item in his in-box is police pay. Our members have sustained real-terms pay cuts of around 20 per cent since 2010 and that has to be tackled and sorted out once and for all.

“Some of our members are struggling to meet their financial commitments each month and that is neither right nor fair.

“So the incoming chair can rely on our full support in the fight for the best possible deal.

“We want him to make sure we are listened to and not fobbed off with the usual kind words and hollow platitudes.”

Steve joined the Metropolitan Police in 1995, before moving to the Met’s Firearms Command. He became a Federation rep because he wanted to help colleagues that were going through a difficult time.
 
He said: “I feel incredibly honoured to have been elected the next national chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales.

“I would like to acknowledge the hard work of Brian Booth and Ché Donald for standing as candidates and running very strong campaigns - they have my respect for being professional throughout.

“My sincere thanks goes to everyone who voted for me, from the National Council nomination stage, to the membership for getting involved in the vote. The level of support and encouragement I have received has helped me through the process and means a great deal to me.  

“I am looking forward to working with the National Council, the National Board and our members to seek the very best we can for policing, and with support, I genuinely believe we can make our voices heard to secure a better deal for policing.”