The Metropolitan Police lost its commissioner, Cressida Dick, last night (10 February). Following a meeting with Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, in which she was told that he no longer had “sufficient confidence” in her leadership, Dick tendered her resignation. She will remain in office until a successor is appointed.
The state of the Metropolitan Police has been the cause of much ridicule and despair across the UK. More people believe it is institutionally racist than do not, at 36 per cent to 35 per cent. In London, where the force operates, the numbers are even starker, with 41 per cent regarding the Met as racist compared with 28 per cent who do not.
Not only that, but few trust the force to handle the investigation into the Downing Street parties. Just 31 per cent of people think that the Met will handle its investigation properly, compared with 56 per cent who do not.
Indeed, so debased is the Met's reputation that not even Conservative voters trust the investigation into Downing Street. Just 40 per cent of Tory voters trust the Met, compared with 49 per cent who do not.
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Whoever succeeds Dick will face a gargantuan task in restoring trust among the people the force is meant to serve.
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