{{Short description|British former Conservative Essex Police and Crime Commissioner}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder |honorific_prefix = |name = Nick Alston |honorific_suffix = |image = Announcement of new Dean of Chelmsford 2024 9 (cropped).jpg |image_size = |caption = Alston in 2024 |order = |office = Essex Police and Crime Commissioner |term_start = 22 November 2012 |term_end = 11 May 2016 |predecessor = ''Position established'' |successor = Roger Hirst |office2 = |term_start2 = |term_end2 = |predecessor2 = |successor2 = |birth_name = Nicholas Kenneth Alston |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1952|9|2|df=y}} |birth_place = Harwich, Essex, England |death_date = |death_place = |resting_place = |party = Conservative |spouse = 1 |children = 2 |parents = Kenneth F. Alston<br />Florence B.Cowling/Alston |relations = |education = |profession = }}
'''Nicholas Kenneth Alston''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|DL}} (born 2 September 1952) is a British former Conservative Essex Police and Crime Commissioner.
Alston was the first person to hold the post and was elected on 15 November 2012. The turn-out in Essex for the 2012 PCC election was 12.8%.<ref>https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19970734#Essex BBC on-line report of the turn-out</ref>
==Biography== Alston was born on 2 September 1952 in Harwich.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alston, Nicholas Kenneth |url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/display/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-274631 |website=WHO'S WHO 2022 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> His father, Kenneth Alston, served in the Police Force for 37 years eventually rising to the rank of Deputy Chief Constable of Essex Police before retiring in 1971.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/local/harwich/9736028.man-born-in-harwich-police-station-wants-to-be-essex-commissioner/|title=Man born in Harwich Police Station wants to be Essex Commissioner|website=Gazette|date=30 May 2012 |language=en|access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref> Nick Alston attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, before transferring to Queens' College, Cambridge to read Natural Sciences in the same year as his father retired.
Alston was commissioned as an officer in the Royal Navy and then served for 30 years in the Civil Service. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours, at which time he was an assistant secretary with the Ministry of Defence.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54625 |date=30 December 1996 |page=7 |supp=y}}</ref> He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Essex in 2017.<ref>[http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/former-essex-police-and-crime-commissioner-among-list-of-five-new-deputy-lieutenants-1-5116012 Former Essex police and crime commissioner among list of five new Deputy Lieutenants]</ref>
In June 2016 appointed as the first Chair of the Policing Institute for the Eastern Region at Anglia Ruskin University based in Chelmsford, Essex<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/news/policing-institute-aims-to-make-region-safer/|title=Policing Institute aims to make region safer|website=Cambridge Network|language=en|access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref> and in December 2016 he was appointed as a non-executive Director of the UK's National Crime Agency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.anglia.ac.uk/people/nick-alston|title=Nick Alston - Anglia Ruskin University|website=www.anglia.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref>
In November 2017 appointed as interim chair of the Mid Essex Hospital Services (NHS) Trust.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.meht.nhs.uk/about-us-/meet-the-trusts-leadership-team/|title=Mid Essex Hospital Services - meet the team}}</ref> It was announced in September 2018 that he would become Chair of the Essex Community Foundation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk/about/who-are-we/trustees/|title=Trustees {{!}} Essex Community Foundation|website=www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk|access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref>
Alston was High Sheriff of Essex in 2022.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63644|page=5082|date=18 March 2022}}</ref>
==Sources== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alston, Nick}} Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Category:Civil servants in the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Deputy lieutenants of Essex Category:People educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford Category:People from Harwich Category:Police and crime commissioners in England Category:Royal Navy officers Category:Conservative Party police and crime commissioners
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