West Midlands police and crime commissioner announces immediate retirement of embattled chief constable

Labour Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, Simon Foster has announced the immediate retirement of Craig Guildford – the Chief Constable of West Midlands Police.

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation and mounting unease about Guildford, including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, declaring she had ‘no confidence’ in him. This came after West Midlands Police were forced to apologise for misleading MPs at a select committee looking into the matter twice – once about whether AI had been used in the process of compiling the report that led to the ban.

Despite this, Mahmood has no power to fire senior police officers at present, as the soon-to-be-abolished roles of police and crime commissioners currently hold this power.

The controversy comes after Guildford set out the reasoning behind the banning of away fans of Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv from attending a match against Aston Villa in November 2025 was discredited. An inquiry found that West Midlands Police had mishandled the intelligence around the policing of the game.

Speaking at a press conference, the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, said of Guidlford’s retirements “he has acted with honour and in the best interests of West Midlands police. I welcome his decision” he added “It was important this matter was resolved in a balanced, calm, fair, measured and respectful manner.”

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