Historic rules hamper Tower of London’s hunt for black Beefeaters
THERE’S a changing of the old guard at the Tower of London: the search is on for ethnic minority and female candidates to fill a rare vacancy for a Beefeater.
A job advert has highlighted the des- perate need for wannabe black Beefeaters to apply for the £30,000-a-year role of Yeoman Warder.
Out of the 37 Beefeaters who patrol the tower and remain “extraordinary members” of the Queen’s bodyguard, just one is black and only two are women. Yeoman Warder Lawrence Watts, the first black Beefeater, was appointed last year along with a second female. Often years go by before a post comes up.
Yeoman Warders spend their first six months on probation, learning the history of the tower. The job includes ceremonial duties as well as helping the hundreds of thousands of visitors who flock to the monument each year.
One of the ceremonial guards is retiring, prompting a hunt for a preferably more diverse replacement.
The problem for the Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that looks after the Tower of London, is the strict rules on who qualifies to be a Yeoman Warder make it difficult to find suitable ethnic minority or female candidates. Applicants must have served in the military for at least 22 years, hold both a long service and a good conduct medal and have reached the rank of Warrant Officer or equivalent. The pool of contenders to draw from, therefore, is inevitably small.
The vacancy, placed in service personnel magazines, states: “We particularly welcome applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) candidates as these groups are currently under-represented in our workforce.”
Yesterday, the Government’s equalities watchdog appeared to suggest the 22-year rule could be amended to make it easier to find minority candidates.
A spokesman from the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: “We’re pleased to hear that Historic Royal Palaces are looking for applications from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic candidates in their search for a new Beefeater and would encourage them to continue to look at all avenues possible in order to increase the diversity of their workforce.”
Commander Debbie Whittingham, the deputy governor at the Tower of London in charge of recruitment, said that finding a black or female beefeater would be a “bonus” but said the rules on who could apply remained firmly in place. She insisted the best candidate would get the job and that “no leniency” would be shown to applicants based on gender or race.
A spokesman for Historic Royal Palaces said: “The problem we are looking at is a consequence of recruitment to the Armed Forces more than 20 years ago.
“It is especially difficult to find women with 22 years’ service. Obviously this has changed massively in the last 20 years.”