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The post of Met Commissioner is always going to be high-profile, and policing the country’s political and media ground zero has the potential to turn any contentious decision into a national issue. With the advent of an elected mayor in London, however, the overtly political pressures on the Commissioner found focal point.
Mayor Boris Johnson made attacking Sir Ian a part of his election campaign, and will no doubt exert whatever blustering authority he has as Chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority to influence the choice of who is appointed as his successor. That in itself has many posteriors clenched, not least because of the political legacy it may create.
This would make for serious concern if it weren’t for the fact that Sir Ian was filling an already politicised role. As a contemporary of former PM Tony Blair at Oxford and still favourite of the Labour hierarchy, he fit the demands of the job under a Labour Prime Minister and a Labour mayor. He may have been the right man to lead an enlightened Met into the 21st century, but he was hardly Dixon of Dock Green.
So today’s events don’t really change much, other than the general hue of the Commissioner’s office. The mayor still doesn’t have the power to sack the Commissioner, and the Commissioner is still appointed, not elected.
The fact remains that Sir Ian Blair’s tenure as Met Commissioner was perhaps the most controversial in living memory, and had he not resigned over his disagreement with the mayor there are many other reasons why he could.
See also: Guns don’t kill people
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2 October, 2008 Amazing grace
The resignation of Sir Ian Blair was, given the accusation and acrimony of his three years in charge of the Metropolitan Police, astoundingly gracious. His reasons for leaving nevertheless raise serious questions about the politicisation of the role of Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
Ken Livingstone appeared immediately in a surprisingly well-orchestrated spread of media outlets denouncing the politicisation of what should be an independent and professional posting. He is absolutely right, but necessarily in the way he intends.
Since 1972 all Commissioners have been career police officers, joining as Constables and rising steadily through the ranks. And yet it is hardly surprising that over time the creatures who inhabit the top position have grown to be more politically-minded. |
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