Chief who challenged police on race ousted as Met commissioner candidate

In a 2018 Guardian interview, Boutcher said of making policing less white-dominated: ‘It’s not rocket science, increasing the numbers of black, minority and ethnic officers.’ Photograph: Arthur Carron/PA

A police chief who criticised his colleagues for failures on racial justice has been ousted as a candidate to be the next commissioner of the Metropolitan police.

Jon Boutcher, the former head of the Bedfordshire force and a former Met senior counter-terrorism detective, applied three weeks ago to succeed Cressida Dick as Britain’s top officer. But the Guardian has learned that he has been told by the Home Office that his application will no longer be considered.