Alan Hardwick (born 1949) is a former journalist and television presenter. He was the

Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner The Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner is the police and crime commissioner, an elected official tasked with setting out the way crime is tackled by Lincolnshire Police in the English County of Lincolnshire. The post was created in Novemb ...

from 2012 to 2016.

Early life

He is the son of a

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

coal miner, living on Chesterfield Road in Staveley. He attended Netherthorpe Grammar School in the town.

Broadcasting career

Newspapers

Alan Hardwick began his working life as an assistant in the men's clothing department of the Swallows department store (now gone) in

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. The news editor of the ''

Derbyshire Times The ''Derbyshire Times'' is a weekly local newspaper published in northern Derbyshire, each edition being on sale from Thursday. Its headquarters are in Chesterfield and much of its coverage centres on the town and the surrounding area. The newspa ...

'' had his suits made in the store and another assistant, Vincent Cleary, arranged an interview for Alan at the newspaper. He became a junior reporter in 1965, One of the first stories he covered was the death of Horace Oakley, the Latin master at his old school and the man who first advised him to pursue journalism as a career. Hardwick left Derbyshire to become a sub-editor with the ''Wiltshire Gazette and Herald'' in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

in 1969, then moved on to become a news editor for the now defunct ''Lincolnshire Chronicle''. Later he became district editor of the ''Faversham News'' in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. After a short spell in the southeast he was a sub-editor and sports editor for the '' Scarborough Evening News''.

Television

From 1973 to 2002 Hardwick was a senior journalist, presenter, producer and director at

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

(YTV), presenting the Calendar South news bulletin. He had first encountered YTV when covering a story at

Butlin's Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one ...

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...

. The staff TV presenter, who was travelling by helicopter, was unable to land due to fog, so Alan stepped in. From 2002 to 2003 he presented his own daily news/current affairs programme on

Radio Lincolnshire BBC Radio Lincolnshire is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Lincolnshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios near Newport Arch in Lincoln. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly aud ...

. Since 2003 Hardwick has been a self-employed voice-over artist and

PR consultant Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

Police and Crime Commissioner

On 15 November 2012 Hardwick was elected the first Police and Crime Commissioner for the

Lincolnshire Police Lincolnshire Police is the territorial police force covering the non-metropolitan county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England. Despite the name, the force's area does not include North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire, which ...

area. Standing as an independent candidate, winning in the second ballot with a majority of 4,135.

References

External links

*
Alan Hardwick – Yorkshire TV's `Mr. Versatile'
– interview by Tom Bates.
Radio – Digital Spy Forums
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hardwick, Alan 1949 births Living people English male journalists English radio presenters English television presenters English male voice actors People from Staveley, Derbyshire Police and crime commissioners in England Independent police and crime commissioners