Cressida Dick named new Metropolitan Police Commissioner – first woman ever to head Scotland Yard

Experienced cop who led re-investigation into Stephen Lawrence murder is now in charge of 43,000 staff and a £3bn budget

Ms Dick will move from her current post as a director general at the Foreign Office (Getty)

Cressida Dick has been named the new Metropolitan Police commissioner.

She is the first woman to take the role, and succeeds Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe.

Ms Dick will move from her current post as a director general at the Foreign Office after Home Secretary Amber Rudd made the announcement, following consultation with London mayor Sadiq Khan.

The Met has more than 43,000 officers and staff, and Ms Dick will oversee its £3bn budget over a five-year fixed-term contract.

She was one of four candidates, whittled down from six applicants, the Home Office said.

In 2005 Ms Dick was “gold commander” during the operation in which the Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was killed by Met firearms officers.

The family of Mr de Menezes has criticised Ms Dick's appointment. His cousins Patricia Armani and Alex Pereira told the BBC the decision was “offensive” and sent “the message ... that police officers can act with impunity”.

Despite her role coming under scrutiny, she retained the faith of senior officers resulting in her three-year leadership of national police counter-terrorism operations until she was put in charge of murder squads, gun teams and child abuse inquiries in a Scotland Yard reshuffle.

She had responsibility for some of the most sensitive inquiries including phone hacking and the re-investigation of the Stephen Lawrence murder that ended in the conviction of two of the teenager’s killers, nearly 20 years after the first botched inquiry.

Popular among the rank-and-file, Ms Dick unsuccessfully sought the top police job in Northern Ireland after her move from the anti-terror role. She then took the Foreign Office job.