Alison Monica Halford (born 8 May 1940) is a former senior

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

officer who became a politician. She was

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

member of the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

, representing the Delyn constituency, between 1999 and 2003. In 2006 she transferred allegiance to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

and as of 2007 advises the Conservatives on home affairs.

Early life

Halford was born in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

on 8 May 1940. She attended a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. She served for three years in the

Women's Royal Air Force The Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) was the women's branch of the Royal Air Force. It existed in two separate incarnations: the Women's Royal Air Force from 1918 to 1920 and the Women's Royal Air Force from 1949 to 1994. On 1 February 1949, the ...

, before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to train as a dental hygienist.

Police career

In 1962, Halford joined the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

. She rose rapidly in the police. She became a

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

soon after completing her probation, joined a fast track promotion scheme, and was promoted to

Inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

in 1967. She reached the rank of

Chief Superintendent Chief superintendent is a senior rank in police forces, especially in those organised on the United Kingdom, British model. Rank insignia of chief superintendent File:Sa-police-chief-superintendent.png, South Australia Police File:RCMP Chief Su ...

in the Metropolitan Police, and was the first woman in the country to command a

police division A division was the usual term for the largest territorial subdivision of most British police forces. In major reforms of police organisation in the 1990s divisions of many forces were restructured and retitled Basic Command Units (BCUs), although ...

, taking command of

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tub ...

police station. In 1983, she became Assistant Chief Constable of

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

, 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 sexual discrimination in her new post, however, and did not get on well with Chief Constable

Kenneth Oxford Sir Kenneth Gordon Oxford (25 June 1924 – 23 November 1998) was a senior United Kingdom, British police officer and chief constable of Merseyside Police from 1976 to 1989. Life Early life Kenneth Oxford was born in Camberwell, London, and ed ...

. Despite repeated attempts she failed to win further promotion, after which she brought a sexual discrimination claim. The claim was withdrawn following a settlement between the two parties. She retired in 1992.

Political career

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 A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each member within the Commission holds a specific portfolio. The commission is led by the President of the European Commission. In simple terms they are the equivalent ...

. She became an adviser to the Conservative Party and their Shadow Secretary of State for Wales on home affairs. During 2010 it emerged that she was under investigation for allegedly bullying the then council leader. In 2012 she was re-elected as a Conservative County Councillor for Flintshire County Council and as a Conservative Community Councillor for

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home ...

Community Council.

Personal life

In 1997, the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

awarded her £10,000 under art. 13 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...

against the UK in respect of

telephone tapping Telephone tapping (also wire tapping or wiretapping in American English) is the monitoring of telephone and Internet-based conversations by a third party, often by covert means. The wire tap received its name because, historically, the monitorin ...

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.

Publications

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

References

External links

Alison's musings - personal blog

BBC biography of Alison Halford
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halford, Alison 1940 births Living people Welsh Labour members of the Senedd Conservative Party (UK) politicians Members of Flintshire County Council British police chief officers British women police officers Women Metropolitan Police officers Women Merseyside Police officers Wales AMs 1999–2003 Women's Royal Air Force airwomen Metropolitan Police officers Women councillors in Wales