London metropolitan police appoints first female commissioner

Cressida Dick has become the first woman to be named commissioner of London’s metropolitan police.

Dick, whose former post was director general at the foreign office, will succeed Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Amber Rudd, United Kingdom’s home secretary, on Wednesday made the announcement after “consulting” with London mayor Sadiq Khan.

According to the UK’s home office, Dick was one of six candidates who applied for the job.

The former senior Scotland Yard officer is the first woman to run the police force since 1829.

Theresa May, UK prime minister, said Dick had “the exceptional qualities needed to meet the challenge of leading the Met”.

According to the prime minister, Dick “will be crucial in shaping the Met as the job of police reform continues, coordinating the national response to the ongoing threat of terrorism and serious criminality as well as keeping Londoners safe.

“In addition, she will be a champion of the most vulnerable who the police are there to protect,” she said.

Dick joined the London Met in 1983 as a constable in the West End.

She had unsuccessfully applied to lead the police service of Northern Ireland before getting a job at the foreign office.

Dick will lead the London metropolitan police for five years and will earn £270,000 per year.