Ian Blair, who as commissioner of the Metropolitan police led the force through some of its most tumultuous and troubled times, has died aged 72.
Blair was the first commissioner in more than 100 years to resign from his office and was hailed by the current Met commissioner as “one of the most influential police leaders of recent decades”.
Blair came into post as Met commissioner in February 2005 with a mission and government backing to reform Britain’s largest force.
But his reign as Britain’s top officer was thrown off course by the worst terrorist attacks ever to hit the country in July 2005.
The 7 July suicide bomb attacks killed 52 people, and was followed a fortnight later by the shooting dead of an innocent man mistaken by police for a terrorist who had tried to attack London the day before.
The scandal over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes was the beginning of the end of Blair’s commissionership.
In 2008, Boris Johnson, the newly elected mayor of London, ousted him.
The Met said Blair died on Wednesday, and it is understood he had been ill for some time.
Blair was ennobled in 2010 and spoke out about policing issues in the House of Lords.
The current Met commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said: “Lord Ian’s passing is a huge loss to the police family. He dedicated his life to policing and will be remembered as one of the most influential police leaders of recent decades.
“Lord Ian will also be remembered for the vast contribution he made to improving our overall approach to policing and the service we provide to victims.”
Born in Chester in 1953, Blair joined the Met in 1974. He was an Oxford graduate, then rare in policing. He eventually moved to Thames Valley police as assistant chief constable before becoming chief constable of Surrey police and returning to the Met in 2000 to take up the position of deputy commissioner.
Blair’s death came 20 years after the month of the two biggest events of his career.
He faced strong calls for his resignation over the shooting of the innocent Brazilian electrician De Menezes on 22 July 2005, the day after terrorists had attempted a repeat attack on London’s transport system.
Coming two weeks after the 7 July London bombings, officers mistook De Menezes for a suicide bomber.
He was held down and shot repeatedly in the head by an armed officer at Stockwell tube station in south London.
Blair insisted on fighting a health and safety prosecution over the disaster and the force was found guilty by a jury of “catastrophic” failings.
His labelling as a liberal police officer led to rightwing papers and internal critics damning him as obsessed with political correctness. He stressed the need for neighbourhood policing, but his ideas were being undermined by a force imploding.
Some who were publicly loyal to him were privately aghast at his decisions, his behaviour and his inability to listen.
The end of his commissionership saw top officers falling out with each other and a senior Asian officer suing for racial discrimination, as the top of the force threatened to collapse into chaos.
He resigned in 2008. In his resignation letter, Blair said: “It is the duty of the commissioner to lead the Met through good times and bad: to accept the burdens and pressures of office and, above all, to be a steward of the service he commands.”
In his 2009 memoir, Policing Controversy, Blair warned of the dangers of political meddling in policing: “A police service that serves one political party or individual is an emblem of dictatorship.”
