So who will succeed Ian Blair?

Alan

Sorry but it wasn't first here. The Daily Mail had it, and the first comment made by a reader is timed at 14.01, 9 minutes before you ran it. Your coffee is still good though, I'm sure of that.

William Norton

How about John Reid to succeed? I think he's done just about every other job...

TrevorsDen

Boris gave a nod to the due plattitudes (which were in truth notably thin)

However the words of Jaqui Smith were laughably ludicrously absurd. I don't know how she had the nerve to say what she said - it could be that her facial contortions were efforts to keep from bursting into laughter but I doubt it.

Mike, Brighton

We all know that whoever is chosen to lead the Met will not be because of their policing record or leadership skills. It will be because of their obeisance to the Labour Party.

Lance Grundy

Long overdue. A foretaste of the one of the priorities of an incoming Cameron government… clearing out the left-wing, politically-correct placemen who’ve tied their colours to the Labour Party’s mast that little bit too tightly for their own good. The political establishment is riddled with them and the Civil Service and quangocracies stuffed to the rafters. They are dead men walking. A spent force. Out with old and in with the new. Bye bye.

Mark

It will be interesting to see if Boris is consulted on this.

David Lindsay

Time was when Metropolitan Police Commissioners were people who had already been things like Governor-General of Canada or what have you. And Chief Constables were drawn from the local squirarchy.

Imperfect, of course. But nevertheless a reminder that the Police are civilians, paid to do what, if the circumstances arose, we would all do, and we would all be entitled to do, for free.

Dirty Euro

What if there was a Terror attack tommorow and boris has got rid of his top cop how would that play. LOL.

mitch

I think succeed is a poor choice of words it implies success and he is most certainly a failure.

strapworld

Played to perfection by Boris Johnson. A true man of steel!

I do hope they will appoint a policeman/woman to the role and not a social worker!

Mind you the selection is going to be very interesting. the Home Office will not want to lose the control of this position. But Boris and David Cameron could make much of the anomaly of the Mayor being in charge and unable to appoint!!

Brian Paddick for Commissioner!

Nicholas

At last! Good riddance to a notorious New Labour stooge. Hopefully his replacement will revert to impartial policing, resisting any further politicisation by the national socialists.

Max Kaye

How about someone who thinks that PC stands for Police Constable.

oldtimer

Let us hope that it is a non-party political appointment.

On Sky News an ex Met policeman made the astonishing statement that during the last general election there were police cars with Vote Labour poster stuck on the windows running around London. Can this be really true?

Faceless Bureaucrat

What about Yates?...

Charlie T

Well done Boris.
Getting rid of the insufferable Sir Ian Blair is another feather in the mayors cap

Ben Elford

So the new Mayor of London has greater effective power than the Home Secretary. Given the respective qualities of the two people concerned, I can't help feeling that's a good thing.

Frank P

Trouble is they're all Bramshill butterflies; politicised, brainwashed in socio-criminolgy and newspeak and lacking in leadership.

They should make Roger Baker the Commissioner: he's just up the road in Essex. Believes in policing the streets, rather than kissing political ass! So obviously he won't get the job. Looks like Hugh Orde is a shoo- in. He's in Northern Ireland, the epitome of politicised policing. He was good before he went over the water, but things happen over there that change a man. The Augean stables need a good hosing down again at NSY. And Dominic Grieve still hasn't answered my question - what will he do about the pressure groups, the the NBPA and the LGPA that exist now with the police service, when the Tories are elected?

Sue Denim

I didn't want him to go because of some furtive fiddle with a mate, or an employment tribunal result. I wanted him to go in total disgrace, convicted of something to do with his initiation of a policy of shoot-to-kill on no legal basis at all, unless some reader here better informed than I can tell me how someone sworn to uphold the Queen's peace can allow armed gunmen to shoot Her Majesty's subjects (and any passing foreigner) to death on a suspicion, without identification or evidence of an armed threat. Who said he could do that? On what basis? And most of all, why is nobody bothered that he did it. I'm not talking about the unfortunate consequence of his policy, but about how it came to pass and on what authority. I've never seen any discussion of this in the media.

Frank Pulley

jock strapworld

Brian Paddick for Commissioner my arse! He's already booked as Pantomime dame at the Palladium this Christmas.

Tasso

I felt ashamed to notice the John Yates' name was not amongst the favourites.
Considering his courage during the cash-for-honours investigation, his excellent copper skills, and the appalling treatment he had to endure from the Commons public administration committee last year, he should have been first on the list.

CS

Hilarious BBC London News with some jumped up prat of a presenter demanding from everyone she asked who the hell this Tory mayor thinks he is.

Even more hilariously, she put the same line to Tony McNulty (of all people) and he told her on air that her ignorance of London policing was pathetic.

The BBC seesm to be pushing the idea that Boris was outrageously interfering against the interests of the people of London who were happy to be safe in their beds under Ian Blair. Then they took the cameras out into the streets for a vox pop and every member of the public they interviewed effectively said: good riddance to bad rubbish. Then the BBC just resumed the line of Boris not acting in the interests of London as if the interviews with the public hadn't happened.

Funniest of all was when they interviewed Ken Livingstone and Brian Paddick. Never seen faces that looked more like two slapped arses.

CS

P.S. Ken's argument was that, as a result of Boris' actions, we'd now start seeing the wholly unprecedented sight of Met Commissioners being appointed on the grounds of their political sympathies rather than their competence at policing.

Well, I just can't imagine what that would be like.

CS

P.P.S. Oh my God! Just seen old footage of Blair telling the media "reports of my death have been exaggerated". Has the man no shame?

Sir Ian is doubtless 100% against exaggerating the reports of someone's death.

Fraser Nelson

Alan, thanks - I was using the fairly unscientific tool of Google News Alerts which does purport to time everything. Did the Mail have 4pm timing of the resignation statement? We'll have to be quicker off the mark next time.

Verity

Agree about John Yates. Very bizarre that he's not in the running. Or is it?

Peter Andrews

CS why would Paddick be unhappy about Blair going? He hated the guy that's the main reason Paddick left the Met

Tiberius

So the biggest of the dogs in the manger is off with his tail between his legs.

Dity Euro: hopefully that isn't going to happen, but if it did, at least the man at the top wouldn't be off home for his tea.

Lord Elvis of Paisley

David Davis for Met Chief! Now that would be funny...

Frank Pulley

CS

Three of the best sardonic and pithy topical posts I have ever seen on a blog. ONE HUNDRED AND EEEEEIIIIGHHHTTTY!

The auditors are in - he jumped before he was pushed. It will be interesting to see whether he sues the Daily Mail for what they printed today; if he does what else will flow? If he doesn't, why not? Or, whether, after the investigation of the 'contractgate' affairs, any proceedings will follow now that he has 'retired'. All the 'political' chat is sheer opportunism on both sides, Boris can claim the credit for the removal of an unpopular plod, Smudger can blame Boris. McNumpty can be characteristically crass and hypocritical. Knacker is knackered - end of story! The double whammy, and again deeply ironic, is that he is going to feel even more exposed after the upshot of the Stockwell inquest and during the hearings of the actions brought by Tariq Ghaffur at al.

In the past voluntary resignation has been a substitute for something much worse after such allegations. He gets his pension and the tripartite string pullers of the Met are spared at least some of the embarrasment of well - in the worst case scenario - nicking Knacker.

There is great rejoicing in the Met among the rank and file, but a concomitant sadness that once again the reputation of London's finest has taken another knock.

But you get it CS - the irony is delicious.

One last point, if he did use £2m or £3m (different figures from different media reports) of taxpayer's money to commission his mate's company to provide £2m or £3 to improve the image of the upper echelons of the Met, someone should sue them for breach of contract and ask for the taxpayers money back on the grounds of abject failure.

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

Jane

I think it is appalling that he has been forced out. Are we to see a new Commissioner every time we elect a new mayor? I do not care what others say. The Police Service throughout the country needs shaking up and reading the review by Sir Ronnie Flanaghan points up many failings. Sir Ian Blair was a moderniser and would have upset those who preferred the comfort zone.

It is nonsense to suggest that any new appointment should be made to appease the rank and file. It is ludicrous to suggest that in order to manage a police force one has to have had certain experiences within the police service (ie lead a murder squad). As far as I am concerned we, the public, should be electing all chief officers removing such powers from police authorities, mayors or Home Secretaries. Further, I do not consider it is necessary to appoint from within the organisation - good police officers to not make good managers.

A very sad day for the officer of Commissioner. I hope the matter is brought before the Courts - constructive dismissal. After all, we have many other senior officers suing the Met re failed prom otion (The Police Authority makes these decisions). We now need to bring the matter before a Judge to have a determination as to who can remove the Commissioner. As far as I am concerned, the Mayor has acted outside his remit. He has gone down in my estimation - I will not forgive him.

I think there has been a concerted effort by the Conservative Members of the Authority to remove Sir Ian Blair as they felt he was too close to the present government. It appears to have been overlooked that in the past five years, we as a country have been under a constant terrorist threat, particularly the Capital. Any government would have had to draw on the experiences of a Commissioner in post.

Elderly William

Jane (or Mrs Blair as the case may be)

Your post is hardly worth fisking as the ironies contained in the nonsense are already flashing like neon fairgound lights.

Just one point - he resigned; he wasn't sacked. If someone sees the writing on the wall and heeds it, he can't then blame the writing on the wall for his flight; he should rather thank his lucky stars, cop his golden handshake (about the only thing he has copped since he was issued with a warrant card - except maybe in another sense of the word - er -no we won't go there as enquiries are ongoing!) and enjoy the fruits of his considerable pension. I'm sure there will be those who will offer him a directorate hither and thither to supplement it. I do not think you will see any employment tribunals in his case for constructive dismissal. He has enough on his plate already.

Don't cry for Blair - cry for the damage done to London's (erstwhile) finest. Cry for those murdered and maimed on London's streets since this egregious government took over. And hold your breath about who his successor will be. I see NO suitable replacement on the horizon.

Hadrian

Until proper justice is reinstated and enforced by Parliament- and that means making criminals undergo a thing called PUNISHMENt as opposed to what is risibly termed 'rehabilitation'ie., let violent offenders wander all over our towns, changing the guard will make precious little difference. All those teenage murders in London..the result of sheer indiscipline and nilhilism seved up in our so called schools.Blair was simply a prominent part of that whole pathetic network.