Cressida Dick to step down as Metropolitan Police chief

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick is leaving her role after a series of damaging controversies.

Dame Cressida said she had been left with “no choice” after London Mayor Sadiq Khan made it clear to her he had no confidence in her leadership.

Last week, the police watchdog found “disgraceful” misogyny, discrimination and sex harassment among some Met PCs.

Dame Cressida, the first woman to lead the biggest UK police force, also faced criticism over the Sarah Everard case.

Her conduct was referenced in an independent report that accused the force of institutional corruption over the unsolved murder of Daniel Morgan, and before she became commissioner she was in charge of the operation that led to the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.

Speaking on BBC London hours before her departure was announced, she insisted that she had “absolutely no intention” of quitting, and that she was “seething angry” about the police watchdog’s findings into the culture at Charing Cross police station.

But in his statement, Mr Khan said he was “not satisfied” with Dame Cressida’s response and that she “will be stepping aside” as a result.

Mr Khan thanked the commissioner for her 40-year policing career.

He said he would now “work closely with the home secretary on the appointment of a new commissioner” with an aim to restore trust in the Met.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Dame Cressida “has served her country with great dedication and distinction over many decades”.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said the police chief held the role “during challenging times” and that she “exemplified the increasingly diverse nature of our police”.

Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper thanked Dame Cressida for her public service and said reform was needed to rebuild public confidence after recent cases.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said a change in the force’s leadership was “long overdue”.

He added that Boris Johnson, whose part in the Downing Street parties held during lockdown is still being investigated by the Met, must have no role in choosing her successor.

Harvey Proctor, a former MP falsely accused of murder during a disastrous probe into claims of a VIP paedophile ring, said her departure had come not a “day too soon” and called for a full inquiry into all her “personal mistakes”.

Dame Cressida, who served in the role for four years, has agreed with the mayor that she will continue to serve for a short time period to enable an orderly handover.

She said in a written statement: “It is with huge sadness that following contact with the mayor of London today, it is clear that the mayor no longer has sufficient confidence in my leadership to continue.

“He has left me no choice but to step aside as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service.”

“The murder of Sarah Everard and many other awful cases recently have, I know, damaged confidence in this fantastic police service,” she added.

“There is much to do – and I know that the Met has turned its full attention to rebuilding public trust and confidence. For that reason I am very optimistic about the future for the Met and for London.”

Ken Marsh, the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents rank and file officers in London, said Dame Cressida had been unfairly treated.

“We feel the way she has been treated is wholly unfair and we did believe that she was the person who could take us through this and bring us out the other side,” he said.

BBC home affairs correspondent June Kelly said the relationship between the mayor and commissioner has to work – and once Dame Cressida had lost his confidence, and after he was so public about that, things had become toxic.

This was a repeat of the situation more than a decade ago, when then Commissioner Sir Ian Blair was forced out by the former London Mayor Boris Johnson.