In the three force areas where just two candidates are standing - Dyfed-Powys, North Yorkshire and Staffordshire - registered voters will be presented with a familiar "first past the post" ballot paper.

BBC: How the PCC elections work

To see how important national reach has been for the Times, one need only contrast its fortunes with those of the Washington Post, a paper that once challenged the Times in influence and prestige but is now much diminished.

FORBES: Arthur O. Sulzberger, NY Times Publisher and Patriarch, Dead at Age 86

Tucker says she still occasionally writes letters on paper to post to her grandson in Denver and visits whenever she and her husband can.

CNN: Grandparents get tech savvy to keep in touch