JUST 13 votes separated the top two candidates after all first preferences were counted across Surrey.
Mrs Iles was first choice for 34,391 of the 131,632 people who voted, while Mr Hurley got 34,378 first preference votes.
As no candidate got more than 50 per cent, the "supplementary vote" system meant all but the top two were eliminated, and the second preferences of people who voted for the bottom four were taken into account.
Mr Hurley won the second preference vote in all 11 Surrey districts and – despite a county-wide turnout of just 15.4 per cent – he believes he has a strong democratic mandate as PCC.
"I think first of all it was very poorly publicised for a brand new process and a lot of people didn't even know what was going on," he said.
"But what we had in real terms is the largest ever survey of the public in Surrey on what they want doing about policing and crime.
"So this is an example of listening to the public and I am treating it as such, and public opinion is, 'I want a firm line taken on antisocial behaviour, burglars and drug dealers'."
The former Hammersmith and Fulham borough commander campaigned on a platform of "zero-tolerance" policing, the tactics he used as an officer.
"Zero-tolerance means not walking by and ignoring something that's wrong," he said.
"It's about taking back areas of our towns where people feel uncomfortable and saying that sort of behaviour shouldn't be tolerated.
"It's about changing behaviour, saying, 'you will pay for your fare for the bus or train, you won't get away with damaging bus shelters, you will not get away with drunken loutish behaviour, there are consequences'."
Questions have been raised over the PCC's ability to influence day-to-day policing, but Mr Hurley believes the "three levers of power" at his disposal – setting the budget, setting force priorities and hiring or firing the chief constable – will give him ample control.
He added: "My three key priorities are firstly to deal with antisocial louts and bullies.
"Secondly, to deal with those who break into our homes and steal our property.
"And thirdly, deal with people who deal drugs to our young people and blight their lives."
Mr Hurley told the Advertiser he is determined to ensure policing costs do not increase the burden on Surrey taxpayers, and he plans to raise more by seizing criminal assets.
The 58-year-old was due to start his role tomorrow, but has been in the office since Monday, meeting the county's top officers.
He described chief constable Lynne Owens as a "good operator who knows her business" and dismissed concerns that "police watching the police" could lead to a lack of accountability.
"This role is to deliver the best possible quality service in terms of policing to the public," Mr Hurley said.
"What is nice for police officers is irrelevant, what is important is what is good for the public.
"Let me be quite clear, I personally take a zero-tolerance approach to any sort of waste of public money or any sort of unprofessional behaviour," he asserted.
Mr Hurley plans to set up police panels made up of community groups in each Surrey district, and he will hold yearly meetings with chief executives and leaders of each council.
"You need to give everyone a voice," he said. "Those who shout loudest overwhelm the others.
"I personally don't get shouted at. I make sure everyone gets their fair cut of the cake."
Conservative candidate Julie Iles said: "I'm obviously disappointed because I would have liked to do the job, but Kevin is the clear winner on the second vote. "I thought we would probably win it and I think the first round, with 13 votes in it out of 130,000-odd, could not have been predicted." Independent candidate Peter Williams said: "Personally I am obviously disappointed. "My reaction is much greater for the police than myself because I think it's a sad reflection on a critical service that not more than 20 per cent of the population bothered to take any interest by voting for its governance. "I have maintained the mantra throughout this of no politics in policing and I don't want to see a party politician running the police force, so my vote goes to Kevin. "I am really very grateful for all the support I have had, even without a party machine." Labour's Robert Evans said: "Obviously the turnout was disappointing for democracy but I think the Government must take a lot of responsibility for that, for holding the elections in November and not informing people properly of what was going on. "Personally I am pretty pleased on behalf of Labour. "We polled more than twice as many votes as the Lib Dems and almost twice as many as UKIP." UKIP's Robert Shatwell said: "The poor polling affected our results because the other candidates have been targeting postal voters and we haven't got the infrastructure to do that. "The main aim was to raise awareness of the party and what the party stands for and to try to get the UKIP message out to the people. I think we have achieved that." Lib Dem Nick O'Shea said: "People had the opportunity to vote for it, so I don't believe the low turnout affects the credibility of whoever gets elected. "But it must put into question whether this was the right process to fill this role and whether an elected police authority rather than an elected individual would have been better." First preference votes (Mole Valley votes in brackets) Evans: 17,834 (1,107) Hurley: 34,378 (2,758) Iles: 34,391 (3,610) O'Shea: 8,503 (1,773) Shatwell: 10,684 (925) Williams: 26,292 (2,761) Second preference votes (Mole Valley votes in brackets) Hurley: 18,415 (1,724) Iles: 10,677 (1,297) Total votes cast: 134,574 (2,942 rejected/spoiled). 15.4 per cent turnout