So who will take the top job at the Yard?

STEPHEN KAVANAGH

The Essex Chief Constable is the favourite of many to make a return to head the force where he began his career 31 years ago.

Despite criticism of his £200,000 pay package, Mr Kavanagh boasts a formidable policing CV.

MARK ROWLEY

The Met’s top counter terrorism officer and former Surrey chief constable is the ‘safe pair of hands’ candidate. Nicknamed Joe 90 because of his spectacles and serious demeanour, he can claim some credit for frustrating further terrorist outrages on British soil.

LYNNE OWENS

The director general of the National Crime Agency must be the favourite of the potential women candidates. An unassuming figure, she has substantial experience at policing’s top table but it may prove difficult to tempt her away from her current role.

SARA THORNTON

Chairman of the National Police Chiefs’ Council, Mrs Thornton is well-known to the Prime Minister as the former chief constable of Thames Valley police. She spent 15 years rising through the ranks of the Met, but aides at City Hall fear she appears ‘too timid’.

CRESSIDA DICK

Now in the shadows as an MI6 director, the former Met counter terrorism chief enjoys a formidable reputation and the enduring respect of her peers.

But she comes with considerable ‘baggage’, not least of which was her role overseeing the operation that led to the death of Jean Charles De Menezes in 2005.

PAT GALLAN

Responsible for the Met’s ‘guns and toys’ wing, known as specialist crime and operations, Miss Gallan is the most senior woman ethnic minority officer in British history. There have been questions over her abrasive personality.

SIR CHARLES MONTGOMERY

Sir Charles, 61, served 40 years in the navy before taking over as director general of the UK Border Force in 2012. His rumbustuous style has impressed MPs during appearances before select committees.