Lord Blair of Boughton

Lord Blair of Boughton (formerly Sir Ian Blair) is one of the UK’s most informed experts on strategic policing and security, business leadership and change management. His extensive experience spans nearly 35 years and has included many senior leadership positions, including Chief Constable of the Surrey Police (1998-00), Deputy Commissioner (2000-05) and the 24^th Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police at Scotland Yard (2005-08). 

Lord Blair was instrumental in the transformation of the Met’s organisational structure and the 53,000-strong police workforce. He pioneered the introduction of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), the largest ever expansion of community policing in London, and led initiatives that significantly increased minority recruitment. He represented the Met as its spokesperson in politics and the media throughout his tenure, including during the London bombings of 2005.

Lord Blair retired in 2008 and published his autobiography, Policing Controversy, in 2009. His unique experience ‘at the coal face’, balancing operational requirements with political and media pressures in his role as Commissioner, has seen him become an engaging and informed speaker and writer. He has long experience in public speaking, including the 2005 Dimbleby Lecture, with his passionate views and expertise sought widely by leaders and decision-makers in policing, business, politics and academia. Lord Blair also appears often as a media commentator, most recently presenting a documentary on the ‘Future of Policing’ for BBC Newsnight, contributing to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme during the General Election and writing regularly for a wide range of magazines and newspapers, including Prospect and The New Statesman.

Oxford-educated, Lord Blair holds honorary positions at several Oxford colleges and in 2010 he became the co-director of a training programme for senior police executives in India, led by the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology. He is a trustee of St Paul’s Cathedral Foundation and chair of the Thames Valley Partnership, an Oxfordshire-based criminal justice charity. In July 2010, Sir Ian Blair became Lord Blair of Boughton, a crossbench Peer in the House of Lords.