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St Anne’s College was the first, and a decade later remains the only, Oxbridge college to elect a police officer as their Head of House. Helen King QPM has announced that she will be standing down as Principal of St Anne’s College in September 2027 after more than ten years in the role.
An alumna of the College herself, Helen said: “It has been an extraordinary honour to serve as Principal and build on the proud history of St Anne’s. It is a unique College and a very special community: I have been privileged to work alongside incredibly talented and driven academics, students, staff, alumnae and friends, all of whom want St Anne’s to be the best it can be and are determined to leave it stronger than we found it.
“Over the coming year, I hope we will have many opportunities to celebrate our increasingly diverse and inclusive community, to continue strengthening the College for the future and, personally, for me to enjoy time with as many members of our wider community as possible, before handing over to the next Principal.”
Helen studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Anne’s before becoming a uniformed Police Constable in the Cheshire Constabulary in 1986. Over a 30-year career she worked in many roles: in uniform operations and investigation, including serious crime and Professional Standards; as a firearms and public order commander; and building victim satisfaction, public trust and confidence. Between 2005 and 2011 she was an Assistant Chief Constable in Merseyside Police. Her many responsibilities included leading the police contribution to Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture, and she was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in the New Year’s Honours list 2011. In 2012 she was appointed Deputy Chief Constable of Cheshire Constabulary. In 2014 she moved to the Metropolitan Police Service as Assistant Commissioner for Territorial Policing, responsible for local policing in London’s 32 Boroughs, road traffic policing and Criminal Justice, delivered by over 20,000 officers.
The Governing Body has now begun the process of selecting the next Principal of St Anne’s. We will be working with Saxton Bampfylde as our search advisers, with the recruitment process being led internally by our Vice-Principal, Don Porcelli.
The Further Particulars and full details of the role will be published shortly. In the meantime, prospective candidates, or anyone wishing to find out more or recommend someone for the role, are very welcome to contact Saxton Bampfylde directly at stannesprincipal@saxbam.com.