WE feared a few weeks ago that the election for a police commissioner to oversee our force would be met with near total public apathy.

And when you look at the “launch” of the Labour Party candidate Tim Starkey’s campaign yesterday, it is right to question if anyone is taking it seriously.

Mr Starkey was yesterday unveiled as Labour’s option for you to trust with what may be one of the most key and powerful positions in our county.

The party rolled out the high-profile Caroline Flint to stand alongside Oxford East MP Andrew East and invited the media, no doubt hoping for some free publicity to make Mr Starkey the man to win your mark come election day in November.

Yet critically Mr Starkey wasn’t there.

He is a barrister and was working on a human trafficking case in court yesterday.

Such cases are serious stuff and we all have our day jobs after all.

But, (without picking on Mr Starkey) it really makes us question why any voter should be expected to turn out in five months’ time when the candidate of one of our political powerhouses doesn’t even attend his own campaign launch.