The appointment of Bernard Hogan-Howe as the new Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is a political appointment, and all the poorer for it.

I don’t mean Mr Hogan-Howe is a Tory, although he has been publicly cosying up to their law and order agenda. I mean that the decision to appointment him, as opposed to Hugh Orde, was clearly politically motivated.

With public concern about the Met at a high level, and especially worries about relationships between the police, politicians and press after the phone hacking scandal led to the departure of the last Commissioner, it seems extraordinary that such a clearly politically motivated appointment should be made.

Most informed insiders thought Hugh Orde was the best qualified candidate, as did the two panels who looked in detail. But they have been overruled by the political concerns of the Tory Home Secretary and Tory London Mayor. This is bad news for the future of policing.