The leader of the organisation that represents 120,000 rank-and-file police officers is to resign after fighting a three-year battle to reform it, the Guardian has learned.
Steve White, the chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales, formally announced his resignation on Wednesday to senior colleagues.
The Police Federation has been riven by internal divisions and was under government pressure to reform, after a series of controversies about how it spends money and manages itself.
White will leave his post on 31 December, with elections for his successor expected in November.
Announcing his departure, White said: “I have been proud to lead the organisation during a period of significant change but feel it is time for the next stage of our continuing reform to progress under new leadership.
“I am proud of what we have been able to achieve for the benefit of those that are at the heart of everything we do, our members. This includes new financial governance, improved engagement with government and the strengthening of relationships with stakeholders.”
His exit sets up a battle within the federation between reformers and those who want it to change at a slower pace.
White came to power in 2014, promising to end the culture of bullying and bladdering, whereby officials used members’ money to fund drinking sessions.
He became chair with the federation facing the threat of government takeover unless it cleaned itself up.
White had a running battle with the Metropolitan branch of the federation, which is its biggest and has considered breaking away.
In 2014 a home affairs committee inquiry criticised bullying and secret multimillion-pound bank accounts held by federation branches. That followed an equally critical independent review chaired by Sir David Normington following the Plebgate saga, in which the conduct of some police officers was called into question after a Downing Street clash with the then Tory cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell.
In May 2014, the then home secretary, Theresa May, gave a speech at the federation’s conference that stunned delegates when she warned it must reform itself or the government would step in.
May told delegates: “The federation was created by an act of parliament and it can be reformed by an act of parliament. If you do not change of your own accord, we will impose change on you.”
Hours later, the federation voted to adopt all 36 recommendations to reform the organisation, which has been accused of being unrepresentative and whose members felt let down by it, according to its own polling.
Days later, it elected a new chair, with White and his rival, Will Riches, a Met officer, getting the same number of votes. The deadlock was broken by tossing a 50p coin. Riches was invited to call, and called heads but the coin landed on tails, making White the winner.
Riches is waiting to hear if he will face criminal charges over claims of a £1m fraud involving the federation’s money.
The federation was created by a 1919 act of parliament to represent the interests of police officers, who are banned from taking industrial action.
White’s federation colleagues may argue about his legacy, but he succeeded in having its views taken more seriously by the government. By 2014, a series of scandals meant the federationwas viewed by ministers and their officials as a corrupt basket case that represented a coterie of powerful officials. Now its longstanding views that cuts to police funding and reductions in police numbers will lead to an increase in crime have plausibility.
On taking office, White said the federation had been on the verge of being irrelevant. Amid claims that officials drank on expenses in the bar at the organisation’s Leatherhead headquarters, he said: “Is it acceptable to stand at the bar at Leatherhead and get bladdered? Absolutely not.”
White has more than a quarter of a century of experience as a police officer. He served as a firearms officer and rose to the rank of inspector with the Avon and Somerset force.
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