12.09.11
New Met chief could be announced today
The new Metropolitan Police commissioner could be selected and announced as early as tonight. Home Secretary Theresa May and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, will conduct final interviews today with the four candidates.
These have been recommended by the Metropolitan Police Authority, and have been ranked in order of preference. May will consider these recommendations, as well as those of Johnson before making the final decision of who will take the post. The selected candidate will then be officially appointed by the Queen.
The four candidates are Acting Met Commissioner Tim Godwin, Strathclyde's Stephen House, ex-NI police chief and ACPO head Sir Hugh Orde, and ex-Merseyside head Bernard Hogan-Howe. The front-runners are widely seen to be House and Hogan-Howe.
May said: “We will be interviewing candidates on Monday, whether we'll be able to make an announcement on Monday will depend on practicalities ... we cannot make an announcement until a decision has formally been taken by Her Majesty The Queen.”
The new Commissioner will take over the force on a five-year contract, worth around £260,000 a year.
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