THE CONSERVATIVE candidate for Surrey’s police and crime commissioner has resigned, citing a ‘toxic’ environment in a video on Twitter.

She said her inner circle worked against her rather than with her, and at times it felt like "an old gentleman’s club".

She said, though this was her experience of Surrey, she had had positive experiences with many associations in London.

Charlie Chirico, based in Wimbledon, beat the incumbent police and crime commissioner (PCC) David Munro in the Conservatives’ selection process in 2019.

The election was due in less than four months’ time, a year later than planned due to Covid-19.

But with talk of postponing the poll even longer, the prospect of further delay was also difficult for Ms Chirico.

“To put my life on hold as a 34-year-old woman without an endless bank balance, which has been exasperated by the pandemic, in addition for a job that I may or may not get at the end of it, has been incredibly difficult,” she said in the video uploaded on Thursday.

“The political reasons are more complex. I found the environment in Surrey quite toxic.”

The criminal solicitor, who has previously been a Merton councillor and Conservative parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow, said she will now take a break from politics.

The current PCC, who was elected as a Conservative in 2016, has served as an independent since being ousted from the party after he was deselected.

Mr Munro, who will stand again in the forthcoming election, said: “With less than four months to go after having been selected two years ago, the timing was very odd. She was in the final straight.

“I guess she didn’t think she would win.”

He said he had been surprised by her mention of a ‘toxic’ environment.

“I had a very good relationship over 20 years with the 11 constituency parties, so something obviously went badly wrong,” he said.

“I feel rather sorry for her. She played a straight bat as far as I was concerned.”

Ms Chirico said there was ‘no one’ she supported to replace her at present, and cited integrity and trustworthiness as the most important attributes of the next candidate.

She said: “If someone isn’t trustworthy within an inner circle, then they’re highly unlikely to be trustworthy as the prospective police and crime commissioner for Surrey on a day-to-day basis.”

Mr Munro said in the ‘extremely unlikely’ event he was asked back by the Conservatives as they look for someone to take her place, his answer would be no.

He said: “I relish the role of Independent and it clearly resonates with residents who have repeatedly told me that they don’t want party politics anywhere near the police.”

He expected the May election to be delayed and acknowledged a ‘democratic deficit’. “It is unprecedented,” he said. “People elected me for four years, not five years and counting. Someone needs their mandate confirmed quite soon.”

Surrey Conservative Group declined to comment.