Sadiq Khan suffers blow as deputy mayor for policing and crime quits City Hall

Sadiq Khan has suffered the 2nd important departure successful a week aft his lawman politician for policing and transgression decided to discontinue City Hall.

Sophie Linden, who held the £141,386-a-year post since Mr Khan was archetypal elected successful 2016, is leaving to go a elder advisor to the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood.

She volition permission City Hall connected October 18 – lone 5 months aft being reappointed erstwhile Mr Khan won a 3rd word arsenic mayor. A successor volition beryllium announced successful owed course.

Sources said the determination to basal down was hers and she was not forced retired by Mr Khan.

Mr Khan said Ms Linden had fixed “exceptional service” to London. “In the discourse of immense challenges facing the Met, peculiarly astir funding, Sophie has worked hard to guarantee that successful London we’re some pugnacious connected transgression but besides tackling its analyzable causes caput on, portion putting the Met connected a way to cardinal reform,” helium said.

“It has been an honour to enactment alongside Sophie arsenic we proceed to put grounds amounts successful the constabulary and code the deep-rooted taste problems that the unit faces truthful it tin regain the spot of Londoners and assistance america physique a safer London for everyone.”

But lone past period Mr Khan had to support her from disapproval from London Assembly members during mayor’s question time.

Her clip successful bureau saw the Met placed into peculiar measures successful June 2022, implicit systemic problems, including a nonaccomplishment to log 69,000 crimes, and deed by a bid of scandals, including the execution of Sarah Everard by a serving officer.

At the time, Ms Linden’s City Hall workfellow Claire Waxman, London’s Victims’ Commissioner, said the Met’s nonaccomplishment was “deeply disappointing” and said urgent reforms remained “unacceptably slow”.

Gareth Roberts, a Lib-Dem assembly subordinate and the person of Richmond council, asked Mr Khan: “We person had the Deputy Mayor for Policing [and Crime] successful presumption for 8 years and has precocious been reappointed for perchance different four.

“We person had ungraded aft ungraded aft scandal. We person had nonaccomplishment aft nonaccomplishment aft failure. We person had devastating study aft devastating study aft devastating report. What is it going to instrumentality for you to suffer assurance successful your Deputy Mayor for Policing [and Crime]?”

Mr Khan said it was due to the fact that of the “hard work” of Ms Linden that investigations into the policing of rape and stalking had been conducted. He said she had referred the Stephen Port investigation to His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and besides asked for an autarkic probe into the policing of Clapham Common vigil successful the aftermath of Sarah Everard’s murder.

There person been 83 homicides to day successful the 2024 calendar year, including 10 teenagers. In the 12 months to July this year, determination were 117 homicides – 6.1 per cent down connected the erstwhile year.

But according to the Met’s astir caller statistics, weapon transgression is up 8.6 per cent twelvemonth connected year, robbery is up 11.4 per cent and shoplifting is up 45 per cent.

City Hall said that, implicit Ms Linden’s 8 years successful office, determination had been a “reduction successful homicides, weapon crime, burglary and the fig of young radical being injured with knives”.

It said the politician had invested £1.1bn successful policing, delivering 1,300 further constabulary officers.

Ms Linden would beryllium successful connected the mayor’s meetings with Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and would besides conscionable the lawman commissioner and adjunct commissioners connected a regular basis. She was lawman seat of the London Policing Board.

Ms Linden said: “It has been a immense privilege to service the superior arsenic Deputy Mayor for the past 8 years. I'm arrogant of the advancement we person made by being pugnacious connected transgression and its analyzable causes, moving with communities, cardinal partners and the police, to physique a safer London for all.

“Policing successful London is acold much diverse, transparent and accountable than erstwhile I started. Of course, determination is inactive a batch much to bash but I americium pleased to person helped illustration a caller people – which volition enactment to present amended performance, accountability and crucially enactment to rebuild the assurance and spot each London’s communities person successful the Met.”

Prior to becoming lawman mayor, Ms Linden was a peculiar advisor astatine the Home Office from 2001 to 2004. From 1997 to 2001 she was a peculiar advisor to David Blunkett successful the Department for Education and Employment.