Winsor — the outsider

In nominating the lawyer and former rail regulator Tom Winsor as her choice to be the next chief inspector of constabulary, the home secretary has stoked more discontent among the ranks of the Police Federation. Not only is he the first non-police officer ever to be nominated to the role, but he is also the author of a bold review of pay and conditions that made long-overdue recommendations to modernise the police workforce.

For this reason alone, the Police Federation is dismayed by the nomination, and MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee (meeting today) may yet try to block him. But the appointment is likely to be approved, and it speaks volumes about the government’s wider police reform agenda and the role they see, not just for outsiders, but for a different kind of oversight of the police.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) has often been seen as part of the policing establishment.