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Alison Halford

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British politician and police officer

Alison Halford
Flintshire County Councillor for Ewloe ward
In office
1 May 2008 – 4 May 2017
Preceded byM. Warburton
Succeeded byJanet Anne Axworthy
In office
4 May 1995 – 6 May 1999
Preceded byNew Council
Succeeded byD. Parry
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Delyn
In office
6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003
Preceded byNew Assembly
Succeeded bySandy Mewies
Personal details
BornAlison Monica Halford
(1940-05-08) 8 May 1940 (age 84)
Norwich, England
Political partyConservative
Other political
affiliations		Labour (until 2006)
OccupationPolice officer

Alison Monica Halford (born 8 May 1940) is a former senior police officer who became a politician. Halford worked for the Metropolitan Police from 1962 to 1983. She became the first woman to lead a police division. She then moved to Merseyside Police, becoming the first woman outside the Metropolitan Police to reach Chief Officer rank. She later left Merseyside police, alleging gender discrimination. She later withdrew the claim following a settlement, and retired from the police in 1992, before moving into politics. She was Labour member of the National Assembly for Wales, representing the Delyn constituency, between 1999 and 2003. In 2006 she defected to the Conservative Party, and represented them on Flintshire Community Council from 2007 to 2017.

Early life

Halford was born in Norwich on 8 May 1940. She attended a Catholic grammar school.

She served for three years in the Women's Royal Air Force, before moving to London to train as a dental hygienist.

Police career

In 1962, Halford joined the Metropolitan Police. She rose rapidly in the police. She became a Detective Constable soon after completing her probation, joined a fast track promotion scheme, and was promoted to Inspector in 1967. She reached the rank of Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, and was the first woman in the country to command a police division, taking command of Tottenham Court Road police station.

In 1983, she became Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, the first woman to hold that rank in British police history, the first woman outside the Metropolitan Police to hold Chief Officer rank and the highest-ranking female police officer in the UK at the time. She claimed to have faced discrimination on the basis of sex in her new post, however, and did not get on well with Chief Constable Kenneth Oxford. Despite repeated attempts she failed to win further promotion, after which she brought a sexual discrimination claim. She faced disciplinary proceedings from Merseyside police, which a High Court judge stated "had the smell of unfairness about ". The claim was withdrawn following a settlement between the two parties. She retired in 1992, stating she would "be free of what has become a nightmare" on doing so.

In 1997, the European Court of Human Rights awarded her £10,000 under art. 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights against the UK in respect of telephone tapping committed by the Merseyside Police in order to find evidence to dispute her sexual discrimination complaint – this violated her art. 8 right to respect for private life.

Political career

Welsh Labour

Local Government

Shortly after moving to North Wales, Halford joined the Labour Party. She was elected as a Labour councillor for Ewloe on Flintshire County Council in 1995. She served as the council's representative on North Wales Police Authority. She did not contest the 1999 elections, instead contesting a National Assembly for Wales seat.

National Assembly for Wales

Halford was selected to contest the Delyn constituency for the Welsh Labour Party in the new National Assembly for Wales in December 1998. She was successfully elected at the 1999 Welsh assembly election, with a majority of 5,417 votes.

In February 2000, Halford abstained in a vote of confidence in First Minister at the time Alun Michael, shortly after he resigned as leader of the Welsh Labour party and as First Minister. She later wrote to say this was because she believed the vote should not have taken place, as he had already resigned.

Also during her term in the assembly, she called for AMs and MPs to receive the same rate of pay, called for anti-aircraft guns to be place around North Wales' nuclear power stations, and lead a campaign for the Gold Cape of Mold to be returned from the British Museum to North Wales. She also opposed the construction of the Wales Millennium Centre, and was briefly suspended from the Assembly Labour group for defying the whip on a bill authorising its construction. She served on the assembly's Audit Committee, and was given the Western Mail's best committee member award in 2001 for the effectiveness of her scrutiny.

In March 2001 it was announced she was under investigation for charges of assault, after a January 2001 incident involving a taxi driver. She was cleared in August 2001, and alleged the investigation held into her was "unfair and biased".

She stood down at the 2003 Welsh Assembly election, and was replaced by Sandy Mewies.

Conservative Party

Defection

On 10 April 2006 she announced that she was joining the Conservatives, having grown increasingly disillusioned with the Labour Party. She especially cited the appointment of Peter Mandelson as a European Commissioner. She became an adviser to the Conservative Party and their Shadow Secretary of State for Wales on home affairs.

Local Government

In 2008 she was elected as a Flintshire County Councillor representing Ewloe for the Conservative Party, and as a Community Councillor on Hawarden community council. She was re-elected to both roles in 2012, and stood down from the council in 2017.

During her membership of the council, she was investigated for code of conduct violations a number of times. She was convicted of misleading an inquiry into the behaviour of Patrick Heesom, former independent leader of the council. During 2010 it emerged that she was under investigation for allegedly bullying the then council leader. In 2017, after she had left the council, she was further found again to have bullied council officials, by sending "highly offensive, extremely insulting, malicious and unwarranted" emails, over the matter of an illegal traveller "encampment" on a council site. She was banned from standing for the council for 14 months.

Publications

Halford wrote a book about her experiences, entitled No Way Up the Greasy Pole. Halford launched her second book Leeks from the Backbenches at the Welsh Assembly on 6 November 2007.

References

  1. ^ "Alison Monica Halford". National Museums Liverpool. Archived from the original on 16 April 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  2. "1992: Top policewoman suspended from duty". 9 January 1992. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  3. Boggan, Steve (21 July 1992). "Retirement marks end of two-year 'nightmare': Alison Halford's decision to retire ends a bitter and degrading dispute". The Independent. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  4. "Halford triumphs over workplace phone bugs". The Independent. 25 June 1997. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016.
  5. "Former Deputy Police Chief wins eavesdropping case". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Flintshire County Council Election Results 1995-2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre - Plymouth University. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  7. ^ Clement, Barrie (23 April 1999). "Voting for a new Britain: Halford, police dissident, ready for a political fight". The Independent. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  8. "Labour chooses former assistant police constable as assembly candidate". Local Government Chronicle. 16 December 1998.
  9. "BBC News | Elections | Wales 99 | Constituencies | Delyn". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  10. de Bruxelles, Simon; Baldwin, Tom (10 February 2000). "Wales savours its first taste of blood". The Times.
  11. Halford, Alison (13 February 2000). "I thought i had it tough - then I entered Welsh Politics". The Independent. p. 28.
  12. "AM urges pay rise for members". BBC News. 13 April 2001. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  13. "Base anti-aircraft guns at N-Plants". North Wales Daily Post. 13 October 2001. p. 13.
  14. "Museum plea so cape can return". North Wales Daily Post. 25 January 2002. p. 13.
  15. Pickard, Jim (23 January 2002). "Cardiff Bay opera house given go-ahead". Financial Times. p. 3.
  16. "Landmark arts centre given go-ahead". BBC News. 23 January 2002. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  17. "Labour AMs suspended; National Assembly: Rebels Punished". Western Mail. 6 February 2002. p. 8.
  18. Bodden, Tom (6 February 2002). "Rebel AM banned for defying her whip over arts centre". North Wales Daily Post. p. 11.
  19. "Committee member of the year". Western Mail. 29 December 2001. p. 10.
  20. Pearson, Emma (25 March 2001). "Former top woman police officer faces prosecution". Press Association.
  21. Ward, David (14 August 2001). "Ex-woman police chief cleared on assault charge". The Guardian. p. 4. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  22. "Halford cleared of cabbie attack". BBC News. 13 August 2001. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  23. "Halford threatens action over arrest". North Wales Daily Post. 15 August 2001. p. 13.
  24. "BBC NEWS | VOTE 2003 | Delyn". news.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  25. "UK | Wales | Ex-Labour AM joins Conservatives". BBC News. 10 April 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  26. "Ex-AM 'appalled' by Labour colleagues defects to tories". Wales Online. 11 April 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  27. ^ "Local Elections Archive Project — Ward Ewlo / Ewloe Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  28. ^ "Councillors". Hawarden Community Council. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  29. ^ "Flintshire Cllr Alison Halford denies bullying colleague". Daily Post. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  30. ^ Goodban, David (27 October 2010). "Flintshire councillor Alison Halford to be investigated over bullying claim". North Wales Live. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  31. "Decision of Case Tribunal" (PDF). Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  32. "Former AM barred from Flintshire council for 'bullying'". BBC News. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
  33. "View from the Bay, top and bottom". BBC News. 6 November 2007. Retrieved 29 August 2024.

External links

Senedd
Preceded by(new post) Assembly Member for Delyn
1999 – 2003 		Succeeded bySandy Mewies
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