How a young donut seller took on policing Devon and Cornwall

Alison Hernandez has been in the public eye for many years. But how many people actually know the woman behind the job of Police and Crime Commissioner. Alison sat down with David Fitzgerald and gave him a brief rundown of her life starting with her birthplace.  

‘I’m a Torquay girl,’ she smiles. ‘I’m a cream on first then jam woman, which upsets the Cornish a lot, but I was actually born in Hele Village.

Now, anyone who knows the village will have seen that sometimes the local graffiti artists are out and about, and they alter the signs. Sometimes it reads ‘welcome to hell road’ and the ‘drive carefully’ has letters scratched out and reads, please d..i..e carefully.

It’s always reminded me of a rather sad state of affairs with my family as gran and grandad were from Hele and died at the age of 61 and 60, and my father died at the age of 59. I make a joke that coming from Hele Village, I’ve probably got just 10 years left, hopefully a bit longer, but you never know.’

What did your father do?

‘My father was in the army, the artillery, ended up going deaf in one ear. Then he became a bus driver. In fact, my grandfather was a bus driver, my grandfather’s brother was a bus driver but then Dad bought a taxi. He was so proud that he had his own vehicle, a new car bought on a loan. But unfortunately, it was for just a few years as he passed away with a heart attack. In the summer he worked the markets with a trailer and from the age of about fourteen I would have to get up at 5.00am and go all around South Devon selling donuts, those lovely warm sugared donuts. I used to stink of them, it was the powder that you used to form the donut. But it has never put me off them, which is a pity really, I love a donut still.’

Food, does it mean a lot to you and what’s your favourite?

‘You can never go wrong with a spaghetti bolognaise; I love it. It is one of those meals that I would have at home, when I am out … even when I am on a diet it is my one ‘go to’ dish and it goes down well with a nice glass of red wine. But I do have a great love of beer, real ale to be accurate. From the age of about twenty, I used to go to beer festivals, like the Tuckers Maltings beer festival in Newton Abbot and then nip out for a curry afterwards. I am a bit of a pint drinker and if you go to enough festivals, you will find an ale you will like. I like to hold the pint… but of course it is not good for your weight and when you are matching men pint for pint in a pub, that’s not a good look.’

Are you an over achiever?

‘No… I am not an over achiever, but I do achieve. I fundamentally got that drive when I started to work at a local council. I didn’t think the management were that good, so I thought that I was going to have to work really hard, do their job as well. You find out about yourself as you go along in life. Some people want to be an astronaut or a doctor, and good luck to them, I didn’t want to be anything. I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I thought that a door may open, and I would fall into something.

To give you some idea of my zero ambition, I got my Mum to help me write to ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ when I was little, to fix it for me to be the person who sold the ice cream at the front of the theatre. Look, my mum was a home care assistant, dad was a bus driver, everyone who lived in our street had low skilled jobs, so I didn’t think there was much out there for me. But when I was on the markets you had to cope if things went wrong, and you had to fix it yourself. The donut machine would break, or the delivery didn’t turn up, so you had to be resourceful… sell and make money. Working like that gave me direction and my dad gave me that drive. I know I will survive, I am not scared of losing a job and nothing is beneath me job wise, so I will find a way.’

Was life pretty fragile in the early years?

‘My parents were of the generation of ‘cash only’ and their two biggest loans they ever had was one for the house, under the right to buy scheme for a council house and dad’s taxi. When he had his heart attack it was the personal protection insurance that actually saved us. He had his payments picked up for six months, that was a real relief for the entire family as we thought it was all coming to an end. I was thirty when he passed away and I lost my anchor. I wasn’t sure I knew who I was without my dad around.

I did quite a bit of naval gazing around that time, for a couple of years I lost direction.  I always thought I would never marry anyone who dad had never met and vetted. I had a marriage, my father met and like him, but it ended in divorce, and I have now remarried.

Dad never got to meet him, but I know that I am strong enough to know he is the right person. When dad was in hospital I was working in regional government offices in Bristol. He was so proud of that. He thought that was the biggest job anyone could have. He might turn in his gave about my politics, but I know he would be very proud of me.’

Final question, Curly Wurly or Mars Bars?

‘Oooh, now you are asking. I think that Curly Wurly is about eight sins on a Slimming World diet, but I love a frozen Mars bar, sliced. Whack it in the freezer then take a knife and cut into little bits. It’s just like posh chocolate.’