New Principal of St Anne's College elected

She is currently Assistant Commissioner for Professionalism with the Metropolitan Police, and will take up the role at St Anne's on 24 April 2017, succeeding Tim Gardam.

Helen King said: 'I feel immensely honoured and a little overwhelmed to have been selected by the Governing Body of St Anne's College to be their Principal and to be the first police officer ever appointed to head an Oxbridge College. St Anne's is rightly proud of its history of having been established by a remarkable group of determined people in order to enable women of any financial background, with talent, appetite and determination, to gain a university education at Oxford. It resolutely continues to seek to identify and nurture students with potential, regardless of privilege. My three years at St Anne's as an undergraduate in the 1980s shaped my life through my tutors, my contemporaries and the opportunities Oxford gave me.'

Acting Principal of St Anne's Robert Chard said: 'I would like to stress how delighted we are at the outcome of this election. St Anne's selects its Principals for their values and personal qualities, and Helen King combines genuine human warmth with impressive competence and a commitment to inclusiveness, diversity and opportunity.

'We feel she will work well with all segments of the St Anne's community – students, staff, Fellows, and alumnae – in steering the College through what looks to be a time of many changes ahead, and keeping us in an optimal position to continue our tradition of transforming the lives of people who traditionally would not have had access to an Oxford education.'

Helen King joined the Cheshire Constabulary as a Police Constable in 1986, working in roles across the country including Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police in 2005, where she then took over the force’s operations portfolio. She joined the Metropolitan Police Service as Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing in June 2014 with oversight of policing in London's 32 Boroughs and was responsible for Roads Policing and Criminal Justice. She has an MA from St Anne's College, Oxford, where she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics, an MA in Police Management from Manchester University and a Diploma in Applied Criminology from Cambridge University. She was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in the New Year’s Honours list 2011.