The retired New Zealand police reformer who is vying to succeed Cressida Dick as Scotland Yard’s new head has a DUI conviction.
Mike Bush, now in his 60s, was off-duty when he drank with friends in 1983 and was caught driving above the legal limit in Auckland.
The then-detective constable pled guilty and received a fine of NZ$250 as well as a six-month driving ban.
He was allowed to maintain his employment at the time, but eight years later, the laws were altered to make it more probable that officers would be dismissed if they committed such an offense.
The conviction sparked controversy in 2017, three years into his term as New Zealand Commissioner of Police.
Mr Bush wrote in a blog at the time: ‘It was extremely poor judgment by me 34 years ago, for which I am sorry. I make no excuses.’
As New Zealand’s most senior officer between 2014 and 2020, Mr Bush carried out sweeping reforms and transformed the force. Under his watch, crime fell by 20% and public satisfaction rose five points to 84%.
However, it is unclear whether the conviction almost 40 years ago could stop him from becoming the head of Britain’s biggest police force.
Police sources told The Times newspaper that a mistake made in youth might be difficult to forgive when Scotland Yard needs to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to any officer who breaches standards.
Both the Home Office and City Hall have said that Dame Cressida’s replacement would need to bring drastic improvements to the Met.
Mr Bush told The Times that he expected to address the drink-driving conviction with the decision-making panel but declined to comment further. MailOnline has approached City Hall and the Home Office for comment.
Mr Bush is one of six applicants whose credentials will be reviewed over the next two weeks before interviews.
His rivals include Sir Mark Rowley, the former counterterrorism chief who also ran Surrey police, Shaun Sawyer, the chief constable of Devon and Cornwall, and Jon Boutcher, who is leading the inquiry into unsolved murders in Northern Ireland.
Dame Cressida was ousted as Met Police Commissioner in February after confidence in the force collapsed in the wake of a slew of sexism, racism and misconduct scandals.
Last year, relations between the public and police deteriorated further after serving Met cop Wayne Couzens’ brutal abduction, rape and murder of Sarah Everard during the Covid lockdown.
On her final patrol in Essex, Dame Cressida directly accused the Mayor of London of forcing her out and confirmed the events at City Hall before and after her exit would be fully investigated.
Speaking to journalists in Chingford she discussed the circumstances surrounding her departure and said: ‘The Mayor of London is a democratically elected person. He has a job to do, he has certain responsibilities in relation to the Metropolitan Police Service.
‘He caused me to say that I would step aside, I did not voluntarily resign. What happened in the run-up to that and subsequently in the last few weeks perhaps, I don’t know, will be looked at by Sir Tom Winsor.’
Dame Cressida did not apologise for any of the Met’s failings, adding: ‘We hear the criticism, know not everyone has confidence in us to provide a good service when they need us, and have seen among us those whose horrific actions have let you all, and us, down so terribly.
‘Each one drives us to get better, to root out those who don’t uphold our standards and don’t deserve to wear our uniform. To improve our response so all our communities feel protected by us’.
Touching on the Met’s culture and claims of sexism and racism, she said: ‘The Met is far more diverse and inclusive than it has ever been. It is a wonderful place to work and we need women and men of all backgrounds to join us and continue to make a difference’.
Dame Cressida previously apologised publicly following the conclusions into the cases involving Ms Henry, Ms Smallman and Ms Everard, said she was ‘seething angry’ about the racist, sexist and homophobic messages from officers at Charing Cross station and defended how the force dealt with partygate.
Two inquiries are currently under way looking at the culture within the Met.
Dame Cressida said the culture in the force ‘has been changing’ following the death of Ms Everard and the publication of the WhatsApp messages.
She added: ‘I believe during my commissionership you have seen a real opening up of the Met. We are much more transparent, we are much closer to our public, and we have been seeking to root out the people who have let London down or may let London down, those people who can’t live up to the professional standards that London would expect of its police service.
‘We’ve had some horrible things done in the last year by people who were wearing and shaming the uniform of the Metropolitan Police. (It was an) awful, awful event with Sarah Everard being killed, a terrible thing, unimaginably bad for everyone. Since then, some other things have shocked the Me. But we haven’t stood by – we were already changing very fast.’
She then listed work being undertaken by the force to improve it, such as investing in professionalism, updating its unit which deals with officers who commit domestic abuse and sexual offences and involving the public to ‘help improve its professionalism’.