Ian Warwick Blair, Baron Blair of Boughton, (19 March 1953 – 9 July 2025) was a British police officer who held the position of Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2005 to 2008.
Blair joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974 under a graduate scheme, and served 10 years in London. As deputy chief constable of Thames Valley Police, he handled the protests over the construction of the Newbury bypass, and then became chief constable of Surrey Police, before being appointed deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and then commissioner in January 2005. His term of office saw the mistaken shooting of an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes, which resulted in contradictory police reports, and his comments on race caused some controversy among ethnic-minority police officers.
In October 2008 he announced that he would step down from the post in December after disagreements with Boris Johnson, the mayor of London. Blair was appointed a crossbench life peer in July 2010.
Early life Ian Blair was born in Chester to Jim and Sheila Blair on 19 March 1953. His father spent most of his career working for Lever Brothers, eventually rising to manage the dock at Port Sunlight in Merseyside. His 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. Both Blair and his brother, six years his senior, were sent to independent school at the expense of one of their father's brothers, who was a successful doctor. Blair's brother, Sandy, left school early to work for a solicitors' firm. His cousin was the historian John Fauvel.
Blair was sent to Wrekin College in Wellington, Shropshire. Jim Blair had been determined that his son would become a doctor—as his father (Ian's grandfather) had been, but Ian rebelled, refusing to take O-Level biology, knowing it would disqualify him from a potential medical career. He initially had no aspiration to go to university, as neither of his parents nor his brother had had a university education. However, he was inspired by a teacher at Wrekin to apply to Christ Church, Oxford. After a gap year, he went on to study English at the University of Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1974.
Early police career Blair joined the Metropolitan Police in 1974, under the High Potential Development Scheme for Graduates. He 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 he wrote a book criticising the way police handled rape cases. In 1985 Blair was promoted to detective chief inspector in Kentish Town, north London. He was responsible for identifying the victims of the 1987 King's Cross fire. In 1988 he reached the rank of superintendent, heading a project designed to reorganise criminal investigations. He obtained the rank of chief superintendent in 1991, as staff officer in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary.
In 1994, he transferred to Thames Valley Police as assistant Chief Constable, later becoming deputy chief constable in 1997, and during the same year took charge of policing the protests over the construction of the Newbury bypass. In the 1999 New Year Honours, he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal (QPM) in recognition of his work as Chief Constable of Surrey Police. He was appointed a knight bachelor in the 2003 Birthday Honours for services to the police,name="Metropolitan Police biography" and had his knighthood conferred on him by The Queen on 7 November 2003.
Blair was formerly deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police under the then commissioner Sir John Stevens, and before that chief constable of Surrey Police.
While serving as deputy commissioner, he gained a reputation for being a "thinking man's policeman". He called for more female, ethnic minority and gay recruits. In 2002 he publicly stated that "Society cannot duck the fact that most muggers are black", and in response the National Black Police Association stated that black recruits could be deterred by such comments.
Commissioner
Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
Several months into his tenure, Jean Charles de Menezes was shot and killed by armed police who mistakenly believed he was a suicide bomber. After the shooting Blair telephoned the Chairman of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) and wrote a letter to the Home Office stating that "the shooting that has just occurred at Stockwell is not to be referred to the IPCC and that they will be given no access to the scene at the present time".
Blair stated that a warning had been issued prior to the shooting. The IPCC held an investigation into what later turned out to be a false statement, and into allegations of attempts to delay an inquiry. On 2 August 2007 the IPCC announced its findings that the allegations against Blair could not be substantiated, instead placing the blame for misleading the public on Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman, who had failed to report his suspicions that an innocent man had been killed, and had released contradictory statements to the press. After Blair learned that the shooting of de Menezes had been a case of mistaken identity, he briefly considered resigning.
During the investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into the wrongful shooting, one of his Deputy Assistant Commissioners, Brian Paddick, stated just six hours after the shooting that a member of Blair's private office team had believed the wrong man had been targeted. This allegation was contradicted by New Scotland Yard, and Paddick said that this amounted to accusing him of lying. On 28 March 2006, Paddick accepted a statement from the Metropolitan Police that it "did not intend to imply" a senior officer had misled the probe into the shooting and that "any misunderstanding is regretted".
In June 2006, a leaked copy of the Independent Police Complaints Commission report sparked further criticism and calls to quit.
On 1 November 2007, a jury convicted the Metropolitan Police of violating health and safety laws, highlighting 19 "catastrophic errors" but said it was an "isolated breach under quite extraordinary circumstances". Blair rejected a vote of no confidence by the London Assembly a week later. 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 Blair.
Blair is portrayed by actor Conleth Hill in the 2025 television drama series Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes.
Operation Finnean In 2005–06 Blair was involved in Operation Finnean, a £280,000 investigation into supermodel Kate Moss's alleged possession and distribution of a Class A drug. It has been alleged that the operation was systematically sabotaged by officers eager to undermine Blair and Tarique Ghaffur's high-profile stance on celebrity drug taking, and thereby erode their authority.
Bonus pay In 2007 Blair was criticised by senior colleagues at New Scotland Yard after he sought a £25,000 performance bonus during criminal proceedings over the shooting of de Menezes, while on a salary of £228,000 and with rank-and-file officers facing the prospect of pay cuts.
Terrorism In November 2005, a controversy about detention without charge proposals led to 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.
After the failure of the Forest Gate raid, several sources once again called on Blair to resign. Prime Minister Tony Blair (no relation) confirmed his support for the Commissioner.
In a 2006 BBC Radio 4 interview, (Sir Ian) Blair stated that Islamic terrorism "is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War".
IT contract The Metropolitan Police Authority requested on 28 July 2008 that Blair face an inquiry over a series of IT contracts with the Metropolitan Police worth £3 million won by Impact Plus, a consultancy owned by Andy Miller, who was a long-time friend of Blair. The commissioner denied any wrongdoing and said that he was "open and straightforward in informing both the Metropolitan Police Service and the MPA about [his] relationship [with Miller]". He said that he had set out in writing his connection with Miller and had no part in the evaluation process. It has however been reported in the press that on one occasion another company was turned down for a contract won by Impact Plus, despite its bid being a third of the winning offer. Miller and other Israeli IT providers are currently contracted in law enforcement for the "Bluelight" IT and electronics services.
No bid PR contract In October 2008 it was reported that Blair had used public money to pay an estimated £15,000 to Impact Plus, owned by his friend of over 30 years, Andy Miller.BBC News, 2 October 2008.
Race relations In January 2006 he described the media as institutionally racist for its allegedly unbalanced coverage of crimes against white people, such as in the murder of Tom ap Rhys Pryce as compared to that given to crimes against those from ethnic minorities. As an example, he had referred to the murder of two young girls in Soham in 2002. He said "almost nobody" understood why it became such a big story. However, he was forced to issue an apology to the parents of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
During a passing-out ceremony of the Metropolitan Police held in December 2006, an unnamed female Muslim police officer refused to shake hands with Blair, claiming religious grounds, and refused to have a picture taken with him, for fear of its being used for "propaganda purposes". According to Scotland Yard, Blair questioned the validity of her refusal.
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. In another case, the country's most senior Asian police officer Tarique Ghaffur was considering commencing an employment tribunal over being sidelined by Blair in Olympics security planning, and being asked to keep quiet about his concerns about the new 42 days detention laws for terror suspects. In a subsequent press conference, Ghaffur claimed that in a face-to-face meeting with Blair, the latter threatened to remove him from his post if he went ahead with his legal action.
Secretly taped telephone conversations In March 2006, it was revealed that in late 2005 he had secretly taped several telephone conversations, including with the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith. 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. The recording was not illegal and it was said to be simply to enable an accurate record to be taken for him in the absence of a note taker.
Single police force