Cressida Dick: Priti Patel and London mayor clash as Met chief quits

Home Secretary Priti Patel is understood to have clashed with the Labour mayor of London over the resignation of Dame Cressida Dick.

Dame Cressida quit as Metropolitan Police Commissioner on Thursday after losing the backing of Mr Khan.

She is thought to have offered her resignation after declining to meet him to discuss her plan to reform the Met.

The BBC understands Mr Khan did not inform Home Secretary Priti Patel about the meeting.

Last week, Mr Khan said he had put Dame Cressida "on notice" after the police watchdog found "disgraceful" misogyny, discrimination and sex harassment among some Met officers.

He ordered Dame Cressida to "come up with an effective plan urgently" to address "the clear examples of racist, sexist, misogynistic, discriminatory practices" within the police force.

But Home Office sources told the BBC they were "astounded" that the "days and weeks" for Cressida Dick to sort out the Met turned into "less than 48 hours".

The sources said no decision has been taken on the process of finding a replacement and the details will be set out when they have been agreed.

Dame Cressida's successor will be appointed by Ms Patel, in consultation with the mayor of London. Contenders include Matt Jukes and Neil Basu, who are both assistant Met commissioners.

While prime ministers have no formal role in appointing a Met Police commissioner, Boris Johnson has faced calls to stay out of the process entirely as he is the subject of a Met investigation.

The force is investigating 12 events, including three Mr Johnson attended, in Downing Street when Covid-19 restrictions were in force.

The Met is expected to email Mr Johnson and his wife Carrie to ask for their accounts of what happened at those events as part of its inquiry.

Ms Patel and No 10 had discussed whether or not to try to find a new commissioner over concerns about the force's handling of the Sarah Everard case.

The home secretary did consider a recruitment process but was "overruled" by Downing Street, two sources familiar with the discussions told our political editor.

Another source disputed that account and said Dame Cressida's recent two-year contract extension was a compromise.

Early on Thursday, Dame Cressida remained defiant despite mounting criticism of her leadership, telling BBC London she had no intention of resigning.

But later, she said she had been left with "no choice" after Mayor Khan made it clear to her he had no confidence in her leadership.

Mr Khan said he was "not satisfied" with Dame Cressida's response to the scale of change required to "root out" racism, sexism, homophobia, bullying and misogyny in the Met.

Dame Cressida's departure received a mixed reaction in Westminster.

Mr Johnson said she had "served her country with great dedication and distinction over many decades", thanking her for "protecting the public and making our streets safer".

Priti Patel said Dame Cressida had "undertaken her duties with a steadfast dedication to protecting our capital city and its people".

Labour's shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said that, as a London MP, he thought his Labour colleague Sadiq Khan had made the right call, while shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Mr Khan had shown leadership in his demand for reforms.

Others who welcomed the commissioner's exit also said it was not enough, with Marsha de Cordova saying: "The whole force needs to be fundamentally reformed."

Stella Creasy, another London MP, said: "This is a critical opportunity for a reset in relationship between the Met police and the community they serve."