32 Facts About Ian Blair

Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, was born on 19 March 1953 and is a British retired policeman who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008 and was the highest-ranking officer within the Metropolitan Police Service.

Ian Blair joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974 under a graduate scheme, and served 10 years in London.

Ian Blair was born in Chester to Jim and Sheila Blair in 1953.

Ian Blair's father spent most of his career working for Lever Brothers, eventually rising to manage the dock at Port Sunlight in Merseyside.

Ian Blair's mother was from Sheffield and her father had made a living as a steel merchant until he suffered major losses in the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Ian Blair initially had no aspiration to go to university, as neither of his parents nor his brother had had a university education.

Ian Blair joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974, under the High Potential Development Scheme for Graduates.

Ian Blair joined as the rank of Constable, based in Soho, London, eventually over the next 10 years serving as a sergeant and inspector in both uniform and CID in central London.

In 1985 Ian Blair was promoted to detective chief inspector in Kentish Town, North London.

Ian Blair was responsible for identifying the victims of the 1987 King's Cross fire.

Ian Blair obtained the rank of chief superintendent in 1991, as staff officer in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.

Ian Blair was appointed a knight bachelor in the 2003 Birthday Honours for services to the police, and had his knighthood conferred on him by HM The Queen on 7 November 2003.

Ian Blair was formerly deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police under the then commissioner Sir John Stevens, and before that chief constable of Surrey Police.

Ian Blair called for more female, ethnic minority and gay recruits.

Ian Blair stated that a warning had been issued prior to the shooting.

Ian Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later.

Ian Blair continued to receive the support of the Metropolitan Police Authority, the head of which said that he would not have accepted any resignation offered by Ian Blair.

In November 2005, a controversy about detention without charge proposals led to Ian Blair becoming involved in allegations of the police being "politicised", when he and other senior police officers were known to have lobbied MPs to support Government proposals to hold terrorist suspects for 90 days.

Prime Minister Tony Ian Blair confirmed his support for the Commissioner.

Ian Blair said that he had set out in writing his connection with Miller and had no part in the evaluation process.

Ian Blair said "almost nobody" understood why it became such a big story.

In June 2008, Commander Shabir Hussain alleged being repeatedly rejected for promotion owing to racial discrimination, explicitly suggesting that Blair was using his influence to favour a "golden circle" of white officers and to turn down applications made by black and Asian candidates, who were better qualified for the promotion.

Ian Blair received an unprecedented written warning from his bosses, but the chairman of the Metropolitan Police Authority, while describing his actions as "totally unacceptable", said it was not a resigning matter.

Ian Blair has stated that he would prefer to see a single police force for the whole of London, an opinion shared by Ken Livingstone, with the functions of both the City of London Police and the British Transport Police absorbed by the Metropolitan Police.

In 2006, in comments to the Times newspaper, Ian Blair claimed that the London Borough of Haringey was a safe enough place to leave doors unlocked.

The Guardian published on 30 March 2007 a story detailing inconsistencies between an account Blair gave of his involvement in the Balcombe Street Siege on the night of 6 December 1975, and the recollections of others involved at the time.

Ian Blair added he had briefly joined the car chase after encountering the IRA car in Park Street near the original shooting.

On 2 October 2008, Ian Blair announced he would resign as Metropolitan Police Commissioner, with effect from 1 December 2008.

In May 2010, Ian Blair was appointed as a crossbench life peer, and was created Baron Ian Blair of Boughton, of Boughton in the County of Cheshire on 20 July 2010.

Ian Blair is a member of the Joint Committee on the Draft Domestic Abuse Bill.

In 2010, Ian Blair served on the Commission on Assisted Dying run by Demos, subsequently speaking in favour of changing the law.

Ian Blair would have held the ranks of Police Constable, Police Sergeant and Inspector between 1974 and 1985, but the dates of his appointments are unknown.