Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (usually just referred to as the Commissioner) is the head of the Metropolitan Police Service. The post was created by the Metropolitan Police Act 1839 and was, until 1855, held jointly by two men.
At one time, the commissioners were either retired military officers or civil servants. Sir John Nott-Bower was the first career police officer to hold the post (although several previous commissioners had served in senior administrative positions in colonial forces and the Metropolitan Police itself) and Sir Joseph Simpson was the first commissioner to have started his career as a constable (although he was soon appointed to higher rank). However, Sir Robert Mark was the first to have risen through all the ranks from the lowest to the highest, as all his successors have done.
Commissioners of Police of the Metropolis
- Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Charles Rowan, 1829 - 1850
- Sir Richard Mayne, 1829 - 1868
- Captain William Hay, 1850 - 1855
- Lieutenant-Colonel Douglas Labalmondière (acting), 1868 - 1869
- Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Henderson, 1869 - 1886
- General Sir Charles Warren, 1886 - 1888
- James Monro, 1888 - 1890
- Colonel Sir Edward Bradford, 1890 - 1903
- Sir Edward Henry, 1903 - 1918
- General Sir Nevil Macready, 1918 - 1920
- Brigadier-General Sir William Horwood, 1918 - 1928
- General Viscount Byng of Vimy, 1928 - 1931
- Marshal of the RAF Lord Trenchard, 1931 - 1935
- Air Vice-Marshal Sir Philip Game, 1935 - 1945
- Sir Harold Scott, 1945 - 1953
- Sir John Nott-Bower, 1953 - 1958
- Sir Joseph Simpson, 1958 - 1968
- Sir John Waldron, 1968 - 1972
- Sir Robert Mark, 1972 - 1977
- Sir David McNee, 1977 - 1982
- Sir Kenneth Newman, 1982 - 1987
- Sir Peter Imbert, 1987 - 1993
- Sir Paul Condon, 1993 - 2000
- Sir John Stevens, 2000 -
