Tom Winsor was announced as home secretary Theresa May's preferred candidate to head Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary last week.

But criticism against the man whose reforms led to a protest march by officers mounted over the weekend.

Ian Blair, the former commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, remarks in this morning's Times: "There are huge dangers for the Home Office.

"This government has now denigrated and infuriated the police chiefs...

"If there is a radical newcomer at the Inspectorate, ministers can no longer blame recalcitrant chiefs for blocking change.

"Mr Winsor may seek change far more radical than anything the Home Office wants."

Blair also hints that Winsor may also want greater private sector involvement in the police. And that the home secretary will no longer have a professional police officer to advise her on what to do.

One senior political figure, who knows the Home Office well, explained that it was a wise idea to have an external candidate, although Winsor was a "bad specific applicant".

Jacqui Smith seems to echo this sentiment, when she writes for Progress this morning: "My conclusion now is that this is a bad decision made for tactical political reasons which damages the good strategic case for bringing external scrutiny into policing...

"I don’t doubt his personal integrity or skills, but his experience of policing comes from carrying out what many see as a political job for the home secretary and this government: cutting pay and conditions for police officers," the former home secretary adds.

Another former home secretary, David Blunkett, told the BBC: "It's almost like poking a stick through the bars of the lions' den at the moment when the police service are most on edge and most subject to disagreement and friction."

Blair believes that the government is making "a bonfire of senior police involvement in policy making".

It seems politicians may not mind this - they want someone to deflect criticism for the more politically difficult tasks like police pensions.

But as Blair warns, there is no guarantee Winsor will end up being to "Home Office tastes".

If Winsor 'goes native', they could end up with a Chief Inspector of Constabulary that is not a police officer and, more significantly, not a politicians' friend.

 

Tags: David Blunkett, Home Office, Ian Blair, Jacqui Smith, Police Reforms, Tom Winsor