Aug 28, 2014
South Yorkshire's police and crime commissioner quit the Labour Party Thursday but refused to bow to calls for him to leave his job as anger over the Rotherham abuse scandal grew. Shaun Wright has faced growing pressure to step down from his £85,000-a-year post after a damning report said that some 1,400 young people had been sexually exploited in the Yorkshire town over a 16-year period. The alleged abuse relates to a period between 1997 and 2013 and Wright was the Rotherham cabinet member responsible for children's services between 2005 and 2010 before becoming a PCC in 2012. In a statement Thursday Wright said he had formally tendered his resignation from the Labour Party but remained "committed" to his job as commissioner. Source: AFP