Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling outlines plan to scrap Metropolitan police authority and divide powers between London assembly and mayor

This article is more than 10 years old

This article is more than 10 years old

Boris Johnson would become the "elected commissioner" of the Metropolitan police under Tory proposals outlined today.

The Conservatives plan to scrap police authorities across England and Wales and replace them with individuals chosen by the public.

The elected commissioners would be responsible for the hiring and firing of chief constables and for setting the council tax "precept" that funds the force.

Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary, revealed yesterday that the Conservatives would shut down the Metropolitan police authority, led by Johnson, and hand many of its responsibilities to the London assembly.

The mayor would be left taking the "elected commissioner" role of holding the Met chief, Sir Paul Stephenson, to account.

But the political reforms have been opposed by senior police officers, who claim they would damage the character of British policing.

Earlier this week, Sir Hugh Orde, who represents senior officers, warned that many could quit rather than serve under elected commissioners.

Alan Johnson, the home secretary, said: "The last thing police forces want is politicians telling them how to do their job, which will inevitably happen with elected commissioners."

Grayling told the London Evening Standard that Johnson would be a "pathfinder" for the reorganisation and said the change would strengthen his role as mayor.

In a speech to the Association of Police Authorities (APA) in Nottingham yesterday, the shadow home secretary outlined how the reforms would affect London.

He said change was inevitable because "virtually no one knows [police authorities] exist".

"We need to replace our current structures with a replacement system of scrutiny and accountability centred on elected individuals with a mandate from their local community," he added, arguing that the move would "empower those communities" and rebuild confidence in the police through decentralisation.

Using London as an example, Grayling added: "The mayor of London has clear executive powers, but the London assembly has the power to scrutinise and also to block some actions with a substantial majority vote ...

"A streamlined version of a similar system is one possible way of ensuring that we provide checks and balances to our plans for elected police commissioners."

He explained why the Metropolitan police authority would be abolished, saying: "In these straitened times, I can see little benefit in making the Metropolitan police work with both the mayor's office and a separate police authority.

"The London assembly already carries out the scrutiny role into the mayor's other activities.

"I can see no good reason why the MPA needs to exist as a separate body, and our intention would be to hand the scrutiny role to the elected members of the assembly."

Most senior police officers fear the introduction of elected commissioners would politicise policing and leave them struggling to meet the whims of populist figures.

They are wary of following the US down a route that means police chiefs can be sacked by incoming politicians.

Johnson sparked controversy after forcing Sir Ian Blair to resign from the top job at Scotland Yard last year.

Writing in his autobiography, Blair accused Johnson and key aides of making decisions for political reasons above policing need.

Grayling also addressed the fear that "extremists" could be elected to the police commissioner roles. "I don't actually believe that this will be the case," he said.

"For the major political parties, one of the key lessons of recent years is that British voters tend to elect on the centre ground ... There is nowhere in the UK that has come anywhere even close to electing an extremist across an entire force or police authority area."

He said that even if they did, the checks and balances in the Tory system would be enough to prevent "extreme actions".

As the MPA chairman, Johnson is now leading an organisation his political allies want to abolish. The reforms would need new legislation and are therefore unlikely to be introduced before the next London mayoral elections in 2012.

Rob Garnham, who leads the APA, said many would fight to maintain the current successful structure.

"There is no evidence to suggest that the proposed local elections of police commissioners would increase local accountability," he added.

"We believe that directly elected commissioners would create unnecessary local conflict through the introduction of more party politics into policing, a move which would, without doubt, work against the interests of communities everywhere."

Len Duvall, a former Labour chair of the MPA, told the Evening Standard: "This would be a bad day for the accountability of the Metropolitan police and would represent further politicisation of the service."

A Conservative spokeswoman said: "Whoever is London mayor would be de facto elected police commissioner with the assembly being the scrutiny, check and balance, which is why you wouldn't need MPA in this model."

The spokeswoman said that "none of this is done and dusted" and that further details would be outlined in the future.

A spokeswoman for the mayor backed Grayling, saying: "A direct line of accountability is essential between the Metropolitan police service and the people of London.

"Boris Johnson, as the elected mayor and the chair of the MPA, is that line, and already exercises a mandate over policing in London.

"Chris Grayling was right to put democratic accountability at the heart of his reforms and to question the duplication between the MPA and the London assembly in overseeing the work of the police."

The Home Office said the government had rejected proposals for elected police commissioners.

"The operational independence of chief officers is an important constitutional principle and the government is opposed to the increased risk of politicisation that would arise with the election of police commissioners," a statement said.