Mayor Sadiq Khan has gutted policing' in London as officers fall by 1,460 in a year, Tories claim

"Susan Hall, leader of the Conservatives in the London Assembly, claimed: Sadiq Khan is gutting policing in our capital. He has completely betrayed his pledge of more officers and has delivered the opposite, fewer police on our streets and communities left exposed. Khan has stripped away visible policing, broken his word to Londoners and overseen a steady erosion of public safety. With local elections in May, voters should know only the Conservatives will back our police and stand up for the communities Khan has abandoned."

"The number of full-time police in England and Wales fell to 145,550 across 43 forces at the end of September 2025, driven almost entirely by the Metropolitan Police's sharp drop. Figures were published days after the Home Secretary revealed plans billed as the biggest changes in the service's history. Under sweeping reforms published in the Government's white paper on Monday,"

"Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP added: Labour have taken a wrecking ball to policing, forcing top-down reforms and slashing frontline services. Sir Sadiq Khan and Susan Hall In London alone we will now see over 1,450 fewer officers are on the streets. Ministers have already committed to recruiting 13,000 more neighbourhood policing officers by 2029, with 3,000 recruits expected to be in post by spring this year."

Police officer numbers in London fell by 1,461 officers, a 4.3% decrease, prompting criticism of the Mayor's management of policing. The number of full-time police in England and Wales fell to 145,550 across 43 forces at the end of September 2025, driven almost entirely by the Metropolitan Police's sharp drop. The Government published sweeping reforms in a white paper aiming to reduce UK police forces to around 12–15 larger forces organized into local areas. Conservatives accused the Mayor of stripping visible policing and betraying pledges. Ministers committed to recruiting 13,000 neighbourhood policing officers by 2029, with 3,000 expected by spring and 2,383 new neighbourhood posts recorded by September.

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