'We are glad to see the back of Cressida Dick. But there’s an incredible amount of work to do to reform the Metropolitan Police.  The systematic racism, sexism, and homophobia must be called out and eradicated.’

Dame Cressida Dick – the most senior police officer in the UK – has announced her resignation.

The resignation comes after a slew of scandals that had shaken trust in the Metropolitan Police, and undermined confidence in Dick’s ability to lead.

Faith in the Met was significant rocked following the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard by police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021. It was weakened further by revelations of a culture of misogyny, racial discrimination, and bullying.

Reluctance and tardiness in investigating the 16 parties Downing Street parties in lockdown now revealed by Sue Gray, magnified claims of a ‘cover-up’ and raised more questions about Cressida Dick’s relationship with the government. 

The Met’s chief commissioner announced she was standing down after London Mayor, Sadiq Khan had told her he was not convinced she could carry out the reforms that were necessary to rebuild the people of London’s trust in the Met.

In a statement, Khan had said, he was “not satisfied with the commissioner’s response to “root out the racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying, discrimination and misogyny that still exists”.

“It’s clear that the only way to start to deliver the scale of the change required is to have new leadership right at the top of the Metropolitan Police,” the London mayor said.

Just hours earlier, the Met chief had said she had no intention of resigning, leading to speculation that the decision was not her own.

In her resignation speech, Cressida Dick said she had been left with no choice but to resign.

‘Long overdue’

While the likes of Johnson and Patel thanked Dick for her service, reaction to the resignation from the other side of the House was less complimentary, with many Labour backbenchers making it clear they were happy to see her go.

Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South, tweeted:

“Cressida Dick should have never led the Met. She was the officer in charge when Jean Charles de Menezes was fatally shot.

“Her leadership saw the violent response to Sarah Everard’s vigil and a failure to tackle institutional racism and sexism.

“Her departure is long-overdue.”

Opinion shared by Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, who said: “She should have resigned after the BLM rallies, Sarah Everard vigil and obstructing the inquiry into police corruption.”

Alex Davies-Jones, Labour MP for Pontypridd, shared the same emotion, tweeting, “It’s about time! Long overdue.”

Others who have welcomed Dick’s departure, believe it does not go far enough.

As Marsha de Cordova, Labour MP for Battersea, said: “The whole force needs to be fundamentally reformed.”

Culture of ‘misogyny, homophobia, racism, bullying and harassment’

Talking on BBC Two’s Newsnight, Diana Johnson, Labour MP and chair of the Commons’ home affairs committee, said there was a “culture of misogyny, of homophobia, of racism, of bullying and harassment,” in the Met, which needs to be dealt with.

“The leadership has to get a grip of it. It can no longer say, ‘well that’s the culture and it’s always been like that’. It is not acceptable for modern day policing,” she said.

News of the resignation instantly flooded social media, with critics of the former Met Police commissioner sharing their support of her departure.

Owen Jones, socialist journalist and columnist for the Guardian, referred to resignation as a victory. 

“Cressida Dick has been forced out. That’s a victory – but let’s not forget the Met Police as a whole is institutionally rotten,” Jones posted.

Reclaim These Streets, a campaign group that aims to use legislation, education and community action to keep women safe on the streets, which took the Met to the High Court after being threatened with fines after the Sarah Everard vigil, welcome the resignation.

Jamie Klingler, co-founder of Reclaim These Streets, told LFF:

“We are glad to see the back of Cressida Dick. But there’s an incredible amount of work to do to reform the Metropolitan Police.  The systemic racism, sexism, and homophobia must be called out and eradicated.

“The recruitment, vetting and training of officers, as well as the whistleblowing procedures all need to be overhaled.

Klingler added that the first step towards building confidence is to make the Angiolini Inquiry – a two-part inquiry to address the issues raised by the abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard – statutory.

Responding to the news that Metropolitan Police commissioner is resigning, Green London Assembly member Caroline Russell said:

“The commissioner has overseen a stream of appalling scandals, from disproportionate racist policing to the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer and the defensive handling of the aftermath of the vigil in Everard’s name.

“Over the commissioner’s time as head of the Metropolitan Police, there were countless moments that should have prompted honest admissions of failure and real reform. Yet her tenure was marked by complacency and defensiveness over a culture of racism, misogyny, homophobia and discrimination. 

“Black Londoners have been telling us for years about the impact of disproportionality in policing.

“We need reform of the Metropolitan Police that goes much deeper than changing the commissioner. Discriminatory behaviour is institutionalised in the police. We need fundamental reform to establish a police force that Londoners can trust and that re-establishes the basics of policing by consent so good officers want to stay in the force and the ones who are behaving in this racist, misogynist, discriminatory way should be made to leave.”  

Rebecca Jivani, who lived in Clapham, London for many years, where Sarah Everard was abducted, spoke of a “rotten institution.”

“Sarah Everard’s murder exposed the reality of a rotten institution with a culture of misogyny and, for me, Sadiq Khan should have forced Cressida Dick out earlier. I really hope the new recruit is up to the job. It’s going to be a massive job to tackle the list of failings,” she told LFF.

In an outpouring of #DickOut tweets, some alluded to the resignation being a motivation for Boris Johnson’s departure. As one user tweeted:

“Cressida Dick is stepping down at long last…

“Her career steeped in controversy, no more so than in the last month where she allowed the Met Police to be an extension of the Tory party.

“One down, one to go.

“The clock is ticking Johnson”

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward

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