Katy Bourne

Katy Elizabeth Bourne (born 24 October 1964) is a Conservative politician who has served as the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner since winning the inaugural election in Sussex in November 2012. In 2016 and 2021 she was re-elected for her second and third terms in office. In May 2024 she was elected for a fourth term of office, securing 122,495 votes and a significantly narrowed majority of 23,000 on a turn-out of 24.2%.

After selling her leisure business in 2005, Bourne held a number of political and regional government roles from 2009 onwards. During this period, she served as a Mid Sussex District councillor. Bourne is the Conservative Party candidate for Mayor of Sussex and Brighton in the 2028 mayoral election.

Early life and education Katy Elizabeth Bourne was born on 24 October 1964. Aged 10 Bourne started studying at the independent Roedean School, in Sussex. She studied History at Aberystwyth University, where she chaired the Aberystwyth University Young Conservatives Society.

Early career Bourne founded a company that taught tap dancing, which she sold in 2005.

In 2008, became involved with the Conservative Women's Organisation, became one of three deputy chairmen in 2011, before serving as the national chairman until 2012. Around the same time, Bourne became a Mid Sussex District Councillor for Cuckfield, serving in the role from 2011 until 2013. She has served as a governor of Oriel High School in Crawley since 2008.

Police and Crime Commissioner On 15 November 2012, Bourne was elected as Police and Crime Commissioner for Sussex Police during the England and Wales Police and Crime Commissioner elections. She won the election with a majority of 24,426 over the Labour candidate. She was then appointed as director to the board of the national College of Policing in 2013.

One of her first initiatives as Police and Crime Commissioner, was the "tweetathon" on Twitter, with the BBC reporting that the reporting of domestic violence rose by more than 50% during a police Twitter campaign to highlight the issue of people not reporting the crime. The work in this field of crime, led to the Sussex police force becoming the first in England to be awarded a White Ribbon status, as part of the White Ribbon Campaign.

Between June 2012 and June 2013, Sussex crime statistics stated that overall crime had fallen by 7% in the county, however, some crimes such as commercial robbery had slight increases. The rise in burglaries led to the announcement of "Operation Magpie" in late June 2013, which introduced roadside checks and a voluntary tag for previous offenders, to rule them out of police investigations. As part of the strategy to tackle crime, Bourne set-up a fund worth £200,000, allowing community groups to apply for grants up to £5,000 to help prevent crime. In 2013, Bourne announced that recruitment had begun for 120 volunteer police in Sussex, and also 60 additional PCSOs.

In 2014, Bourne introduced a new study to measure public confidence in the Sussex Police. This included more than 2,000 young people aged between 15 and 24, which was reported by the BBC as a strategy to engage with young people by the Police force. During the same year, an initiative was launched to help victims of crime at a cost of £1.8 million. Bourne was also successful in securing £250,000 in extra funding for young victims of serious sexual crimes.

Bourne spoke at a meeting in Brighton about a number of issues in October 2014, including highway legislation. She suggested in passing that a cyclist could wear a form of identification, so the few that broke highway laws could be easily identified. The article lead to reporting by the British media that Borne had suggested that cyclists should use number plates. In an interview with The Guardian in late 2014, she stated "I believed that cyclists should have some form of identification. Now what that identification is, I don't know."

Throughout 2014 and 2015, Bourne called regular performance and accountability meetings (PAMs) to measure the performance of Sussex Police. A number of improvements were made to 101 non-emergency call handling and burglary dwelling performance across throughout the two reported years. Satisfaction of police forces in the United Kingdom fell to an average of 80.4%, with Sussex Police achieving 93% in the same period.

Sussex police also secured £1.1 million over a two-year period to transform the justice system in Sussex.

Sussex police announced in 2015 that it would be one of the first forces in the United Kingdom to implement an app to assist with the reporting of hate crimes. The app could be used to record evidence of hate crimes as they happen. During the speech at the launch of the app, Bourne stated that she hoped this would allow people to report more hate crimes, something the Sussex police force felt at the time was under-reported. In late 2015, it was announced that Bourne would be running for re-election as the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner.

In late 2015, Bourne worked closely with the police force to introduce new measures to improve relationships with troubled young people, including the homeless. In early 2016, she worked alongside a number of senior politicians to trial an idea to reduce court costs in rural communities. The scheme would replace administrative hearings with virtual courts, allowing defendants, victims and witnesses to give evidence remotely to reduce costs. Reform's paper on digital justice, suggested such a scheme could result in savings of £27 million. She was also interviewed on BBC Breakfast in March 2016 about a pilot of a new scheme to tackle domestic violence. The pilot would provide one-to-one support in an attempt to change the behaviour of perpetrators.

Bourne was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours. In April 2021, Bourne was re-elected for a third term in the 2021 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections. In May 2024, Bourne was re-elected for a fourth term as PCC for Sussex; she is the only person who has held that post since its creation in 2012. In July 2025, Bourne was selected as the Conservative Party candidate for Mayor of Sussex and Brighton in the 2026 mayoral election.

Pegasus Partnership

Katy convened and chaired the Pegasus Partnership, a United Kingdom public–private initiative established in October 2023 to combat organised retail crime through enhanced cooperation between law enforcement agencies, the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC), and major retailers . This was introduced to tackle a recent rise in shoplifting and organised retail crime, which was often driven by coordinated criminal groups working across multiple regions. Retailers highlighted difficulties in sharing information effectively with police forces, resulting in fragmented intelligence about offenders and criminal networks. At its inception, 13 major UK retailers including such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s committed funding to support the initiative.

A central component of Pegasus is its support for a dedicated national policing function within Opal, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) intelligence unit for serious organised acquisitive crime.

Since the unit was launched in May 2024, it has supported 203 referrals from retailers and police forces, resulting in 84 operations being carried out to tackle organised crime gangs targeting the retail sector.

A total of 605 offenders have been identified and tens of thousands of pounds worth of stolen goods recovered, resulting in 257 arrests, 118 years’ worth of imprisonments and 22 deportations. There has been a 73% reduction in offending by organised crime groups referred into the unit; and more than 118 years’ worth of prison sentences have been handed out.

By 2026, the Pegasus Partnership had been integrated into broader national efforts to tackle business and retail crime, with its operational elements continuing under initiatives such as the National Business Crime Centre’s programmes.

Personal life

Bourne resides in Mid Sussex with her husband Kevin, who served in the Falklands War as a 19-year-old artilleryman. She has two adult sons and two adult step-daughters.

Electoral performance Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner

Mid Sussex District Council

Honours