Lady Tottington: a crystal clear winner?

Lady Tottington from Wallace and Grommit? — Image via Flickr

So all the politically correct rhetoric, self-nominated media awards, the stinted reading of carefully prepared press statements, and the excessive use of the word community, have all finally paid off…

The hard work has been rewarded however, The Journal also reports how the “rules were bent” to allow the appointment of Sue Sim (aka Crystal Tips) as the new Northumbria Police Chief Constable.

BBC News: The policewoman who led Northumbria Police during the Raoul Moat shootings case has been appointed its Chief Constable… (Read more)

Ms Sim became the public face of the police hunt for gunman Moat in July last year when she spoke at a series of press conferences. At that time many officers (see here), up and down the nation found her performance to be little short of embarrassing.

Now, we all know that under Labour, senior uniformed officers were taught to say “community” as many times as humanly possible, in the hope that some kind of magic spell would influence the public. It is starting to look like there is nowt else in the ACPO list of things to say during an incident… (Read more)

Since February Northumbria Police Authority, and the Home Office, have been urged to appoint Ms Sim and now they have, they’re trotting out the expected comments about Ms Sim being “widely respected” etc. She may be held in high esteem by her peers perhaps, but by her subordinates and the workforce, perhaps not. It has previously been reported how she rules her force with a ‘rod of iron’, perhaps that is the reason for the ‘respect’, one that is born out of fear? She did make the BBC top Ten Female Faces of 2010 however…

BBC News Magazine: She drew praise for the human way she dealt with members of the public, especially those living in areas affected by the manhunt. But she also made headlines for a minor gaffe, when she mistakenly uttered that every stone would be left unturned in the search for Mr Moat, although some commentators detected sexism in what they thought was an unnecessary focus on her appearance.

I have to wonder, irrespective of Ms Sim being an excellent example of the Home Office approved ACPO clone, if Lady Tottington was the crystal clear winner, what must the remaining candidates have been like?