Norfolk’s embattled police and crime commissioner has abandoned his entire 127-date theatre tour after days of ridicule forced a humiliating U-turn.
Colin Sutton admitted he should have pulled out sooner and appeared to take responsibility for the farce, which has dragged on for almost a week.
The Reform politician has been at the centre of controversy since last Friday, when it emerged he planned to take his true crime, one-man show, the Makings of a Murderer, on an 11-month tour.
It led to a furious reaction from the public, with calls for Mr Sutton to focus on his £79,000-a-year, taxpayer-funded job, which he only started two months ago.
He initially claimed he could carry out the tour in his “spare time”, despite three quarters of the shows being on weekday evenings at venues across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands.
In an interview with the EDP in which he confirmed he had withdrawn from the tour, he acknowledged it was “ridiculous” to assume he could perform at 127 venues.
GOOD COP, BAD COP
His tone in the interview was significantly less combative and more conciliatory than it had been earlier in the week when his remarks to the BBC were described as petulant and lacking humility.
On that occasion, he had appeared to shift responsibility for the decision to go on tour to his staff, saying he had only committed to it after they told him it would be ok.
Political opponents had also accused him of “playing the victim” by claiming he had been subject to a “pile-on” which he said had been caused by the EDP's coverage of the story.
He made similar points in a peevish appearance in front of North Norfolk District Council’s scrutiny committee on Wednesday where councillors probed him on the tour.
The former Met Detective made an eight-minute speech in which he pointed the finger at his promoter and “certain media organisations” for his predicament.
TIMELINE OF 'TOUR DE FARCE'
He gave a timeline of the discussions that had led up to the tour being organised.
He has previously done national theatre tours talking about his police career and the idea for the latest one had been first mooted with promoters in March 2025.
He said he had “held fire” as he was standing in the Norfolk County Council elections that May.
He went on to lose to the Greens and got back in touch with his promoters to revive the tour.
However, Sarah Taylor’s shock resignation as PCC in June 2026 saw Mr Sutton stand for election again, and he again put the tour plans on ice.
He said shortly after his victory in July, he held talks with his staff at the Police and Crime Commissioner Office and they raised no concerns about his plans.
He claimed he was not aware that the promoter had arranged 127 dates.
STILL ‘SELF PITY SUTTON’
In the meeting, Mr Sutton reiterated his claims that he was the victim of a “pile-on” who had been unfairly treated by "certain media organisations" because of his link to the police and to Reform.
He is understood to be referring to the EDP.
He said: “I will say that my belief is as a Reform UK politician and as a PCC I am in the crosshairs of certain media organisations who have a long history of antipathy towards Norfolk Constabulary and a recent history of antipathy for Reform UK.
“I meet at that intersection. I'm not surprised I'm the target of theirs. I accept that if you’re in public life you’re going to be a target some way or another.
“And the ‘pile-on’ on social media are people who should know better but again people are motivated by trying to make political points rather than having any interest in the Norfolk residents at heart.”
At the same time, he said he was pulling out of the tour after receiving a number of emails from voters who claimed he had let them down.
He said he had been “surprised” by the number of people who had contacted him.
“They don't know about my work ethic, they don't know about my capacity for work and they think it's a problem,” he said.
“I’m not sure I could do 127 dates because that's ridiculous, but I could've done some.”
“But what I don't want to do is give the impression to anybody that I don’t take this role seriously and I'm not going to do a good job on this.”
He added: “Essentially what has happened is a company has published a list of engagements which I have not agreed to and I wasn't contracted to do and all this has blown up around it.”
He did not explain why he had initially insisted he could carry out the tour in his "spare time".
SUTTON GOES SOFT
Before the meeting, Mr Sutton declined to speak with the EDP, citing frustrations with our coverage.
But immediately afterwards, he agreed to an interview and spoke in markedly different terms about the furore, appearing to shoulder the blame.
He has now asked the people of Norfolk to judge “me on what happens and what I do” rather than “what I might have done or was seeking to do”.
In this discussion, Mr Sutton said he “didn’t blame anybody” for the farce over his tour.
He said: “I think from when I said in August that I thought it was possible, as I got more into the role and realised what was involved in the role, I should have realised that actually I can't do it.
“I'm not trying to say this is all somebody else's fault. It's not, because I should have been more honest with myself about how much PCC work was taking up my time.”
When questioned why he didn’t disclose the plans for voters before he was elected in July, Mr Sutton said, because “there’s always a chance you’re not going to get elected”.
“I was never going to commit to it unless and until I felt it was compatible with being a police and crime commissioner. I thought in August it was. I realised now it's not.
“My view was that I would only do a tour if I got elected if it had no effect on the job.”
He was then asked if he had any regrets, and said: “I honestly don't, I’d say the only thing I think I did wrong that I regret is the fact that I should have just said ‘no’ sooner. That's all.”
He also held firm when asked if he felt he had lost the trust of voters, saying: “You can decide that one. I'm just going to carry on doing the job the best I can. We'll see where we are in two years' time”.
A spokesman from Entertainers, the promoter of the show, said: “Entertainers is hugely supportive of Colin Sutton and his decades of professional police work.
"Colin is widely regarded as one of the UK’s greatest living detectives, and following the success of his previous appearances, he was invited back to The Makings of a Murderer due to popular demand.
“Through our recent discussions with Colin, it has become clear that he had underestimated the overall demands of the forthcoming tour alongside his other professional commitments.
"What has also been abundantly clear throughout those conversations is how seriously Colin takes his responsibilities to the people of Norfolk, and how deeply committed he is to serving them.
“We are now working closely with Colin to find a route forward and those discussions are ongoing. At this stage, there is little more we can appropriately add.”
THE EDP SAYS...
Colin Sutton must know a lot about being the good cop or the bad cop.
It is hard to see which one he is.
The former Met detective and current police and crime commissioner for Norfolk showed signs of both on Wednesday.
In front of North Norfolk District Council’s scrutiny committee he was still the same thin-skinned, petulant and arrogant figure we saw earlier this week.
He again lacked self-reflection and stuck to his script of blaming others – his promoter at some points, his staff at others – for his own cack-handed decision to go on a theatre tour, and attacking those who highlighted concerns about it.
He still ranted on in conspiratorial tones about “certain media organisations” (we think he means us, reader) being part of a dastardly plot to bring him down.
But after the meeting, it was as if a switch had been flicked.
The performative outrage ended and he cut a far more emollient figure when speaking with EDP reporter Henry Durand.
He acknowledged the tour had been a terrible idea and that the idea he could perform 127 dates in his free time was “ridiculous”.
He appeared to stop blaming others and even seemed to abandon his crank theories about the media, saying he had no hard feelings towards Mr Durand, who has covered this story, bringing every detail into the public domain to allow readers to make up their own minds.
Well, there are no hard feelings at this end either.
If Mr Sutton has learned a few hard lessons from this chastening experience, then perhaps it can all be for the best.
We want him to succeed in his role to drive up policing standards and make sure the force’s priorities match those of the public.
That is certainly a full-time job.
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