Cressida Dick: Met Police commissioner to stand down in April

Dame Cressida Dick was the first woman to hold the role of commissioner

Cressida Dick will stand down as Met Police commissioner next month, Home Secretary Priti Patel has confirmed.

Her current deputy, Sir Stephen House, will take over in the interim until a new Met chief has been appointed.

Dame Cressida quit in February when the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he had lost confidence in her leadership.

Ms Patel also announced a review into the handling of Dame Cressida's exit by the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary Sir Tom Winsor.

Dame Cressida had agreed to stay on in the post until arrangements to appoint her successor had been finalised and, in a written statement to the Commons on Monday, Ms Patel said Sir Stephen was expected to cover until this summer.

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The home secretary said: "She deserves our profound gratitude for her decades of public service and leadership in policing, as well as our best wishes for the future.

"Dame Cressida has shown exceptional dedication to fighting crime in London and beyond throughout her time as Commissioner, as the first woman to hold the role of commissioner."

She added: "The circumstances in which the outgoing MPS Commissioner is leaving her role warrant a closer look at the legislation which governs the suspension and removal of the commissioner."

Outgoing chief inspector of constabulary Sir Tom Winsor will carry out the review.

A spokesperson for the mayor of London said: "The mayor is clear that the Met's next leader must demonstrate they understand the depths of the problems faced by the force and have a plan to restore the trust and confidence of Londoners."

Home secretary Priti Patel said she wants decisive new leadership

Ms Patel said "strong and decisive new leadership will be required to restore public confidence" in London's police force.

Contenders include Matt Jukes and Neil Basu, who are currently both assistant Met commissioners.

Dame Cressida said she had to resign from the role after London's mayor made it clear to her he had no confidence in her leadership.

It followed cases of sexism and misogyny among some Met officers. Last month, the police watchdog found "disgraceful" examples of bullying and sexual harassment at Charing Cross police station in central London.

A national leader

Dame Cressida, the first woman to lead the UK's biggest police force, also faced criticism over the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving Met officer last year, and a series of other scandals.

Beyond London, the Met is also responsible for national counter-terrorism policing, and Ms Patel said the commissioner was "a national leader, with a critical national role".

Her successor will be appointed by the home secretary, in consultation with the mayor of London.

Prime ministers have no formal role in appointing the commissioner, but Boris Johnson has nevertheless faced calls to stay out of the process entirely because of the ongoing Met investigation into lockdown parties at Downing Street.

Home affairs committee chairwoman Diana Johnson, a Labour MP, said she hoped Mr Johnson would "completely stand aside from any discussion about who the new commissioner should be".

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