Blair quits as Met chief

Sir Ian Blair's resignation statement

I was appointed as the 24th Metropolitan Police commissioner in February 2005.

Since that time it has been the proudest task of my life to lead the men and women of the Metropolitan Police.

I believe that the record of the Met under my command in relation to the expansion of neighbourhood policing, reduced crime, increased detection, improved public confidence, and our response to terrorism, has been a worthy one.



It is the duty of the commissioner to lead the Met through good times and bad, to accept the burdens and pressures of office, and above all to be a steward of the service he commands.

However, I have today offered my resignation as commissioner to the home secretary, which she has reluctantly but graciously accepted.

I am resigning not because of any failures by my service and not because of the pressures of the office, and the many stories that surround it, are too much.

I am resigning in the best interests of the people of London and of the Metropolitan Police service.

I would have wished to continue to serve Londoners until my time of office expired in February 2010.

However, at a meeting yesterday the new mayor made clear, in a very pleasant but determined way, that he wished for there to be a change of leadership at the Met.

I understand that to serve effectively, the commissioner must have the confidence of both the mayor and the home secretary.

Without the mayor's backing I do not consider that I can continue in the job.

Personally I can see no bar to working effectively with the mayor, but it is there that we differ - and hence I am unable to continue.

The home secretary has asked that I should stay for enough time for the process of appointing my successor to be got underway. I shall therefore leave office on 1 December of this year, giving the home secretary and the MPA time to make plans for the appointment of my successor.

I offer Boris Johnson and his team at City Hall and at the police authority the very best of fortune.

I say to the people of London that I believe that, in the Metropolitan Police service, they have a quite wonderful institution made up of extraordinary men and women who would daily risk their lives on your behalf.

I say to those men and women and to those staff who support them that they are part of one of the greatest police services in the world.

This great institution, which I have served for 28 out of my 34 years as a police officer, will always have a central place of affection in my heart.

Thank you very much.

London Mayor Boris Johnson's reaction

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