Sir Paul Stephenson quits as Met faces toughest challenge in a lifetime.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

Less than a year to go before London hosts the Olympic Games, in the biggest policing challenge since the second world war, and the Metropolitan police finds itself without a leader once more.

The loss of Sir Paul Stephenson at this crucial point leaves the country's largest force rudderless and exposes again how the job of the most powerful policeman in the land is a political football.

While the home secretary and prime minister's displeasure over revelations about Neil Wallis's contract with the Met helped force Stephenson's resignation, the support from Boris Johnson's side was solid and vocal.

"Sir Paul Stephenson …