The scale of the challenge facing the next Metropolitan Police commissioner is immense

The next commissioner of the Metropolitan Police will be heading into a maelstrom of competing concerns and crises.

Scandals are nothing new for England’s oldest and largest force, but rarely have there been such a range of disasters in such quick succession.

Recent inquiries have seen its officers accused of misogyny, racism, corruption and sheer incompetence.

Days after Sarah Everard was murdered by a serving officer last March, a constable went on trial for membership of a neo-Nazi terrorist group.

Weeks later, two more officers were charged with misconduct in public office for sharing photos of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.

Accusations of misogyny have widened further following a damning watchdog report on activity at Charing Cross police station, and both an internal probe into “standards and culture” and the Sarah Everard public inquiry are sure to produce further material.

In the meantime, the Metropolitan Police is fighting against at least two separate legal challenges.

One is over its refusal to facilitate a vigil for Ms Everard, with organisers saying they were unlawfully threatened with £10,000 fines and prosecution.

The second is an attempted judicial review over Scotland Yard’s initial decision not to investigate “Partygate” – the gatherings at Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A criminal investigation is now underway, with more than 50 people – thought to include the prime minister himself – being sent questionnaires to establish whether they should be fined for breaking Covid laws.

The wave of scandals has left the Metropolitan Police firefighting on all fronts in a bid to salvage waning public trust.

On Friday, Priti Patel said that “strong and decisive new leadership will be required to restore public confidence”.

“I will appoint a commissioner who will deliver results for the public that our police serve and represent,” the home secretary added.

But it is not just the public that the new commissioner must concern themselves with. The Metropolitan Police contains more than 33,000 police officers and almost 10,000 members of staff.

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Many of them liked and admired Dame Cressida, seeing her as a capable and fair leader who stood up for them in the worst of times.

Her departure is likely to worsen morale in the force, where rank-and-file officers often feel under siege from an endless stream of negative headlines, while their hard and frequently dangerous work goes unrecognised.

On social media, many officers have been sharing the opinion that Dame Cressida was scapegoated for the actions of others, and wider institutional problems that will not be fixed by her departure.

“She was probably the best commissioner we’ve had in a long time,” wrote one officer on Twitter. “Progressive, approachable and a genuinely nice person. I will be sad to see her go.”

The Met, like police forces across the country, is currently conducting a huge recruitment drive to increase officer numbers – but the effort will fail if demoralised officers start to quit in significant numbers.

While the pandemic suppressed most forms of crime, it has been back to business as normal in London for some time, with levels of violence surging after the lifting of restrictions and reports of sexual offences rocketing to record levels.

Nationally, the proportion of offences prosecuted stands at a record low, and fewer police investigations result in justice for victims.

It will be a brave person who steps into the breach to lead the Metropolitan Police at such a time.

As Sir Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: “I think there are some people that will look at that and either be put off by that degree of pressure, or think that it is almost impossible to succeed.”