The PM should stay out of the appointment process for a new Met boss as he is the subject of a police investigation
Dame Cressida Dick had barely departed as boss of Britain’s largest police force before Downing Street was making veiled threats that her successor ought to go easy on Boris Johnson in Scotland Yard’s “partygate” investigation. On Friday, No 10 let it be known that the Metropolitan police would need to be “very certain” that the prime minister breached lockdown rules before issuing him with a fixed penalty notice – a fine that would probably trigger a vote of confidence in Mr Johnson’s leadership.
“There is inevitably a degree of discretion here,” a senior ally of the prime minister told the Times. “If [Mr Johnson] does get one it would be odd if the discretionary action of the police determines the future of the country.” Anyone seeking to be the next Met police commissioner would have got the message: this is politics, use your “discretion” and keep your nose out of it.
