Brian Paddick

The Liberal Democrat candidate for London mayor is no stranger to the political limelight.

Brian Paddick, 49, was the UK's highest-ranking openly gay policeman before he quit as a Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner last year.

It was the end of an often controversial 30-year police career.

He said recently: "Throughout my career, I was passionate about making a difference and determined to be open and honest at all times.

"This did not go down well with top brass and would ultimately result in my resignation."

He joined the Met in 1976 at the age of 18. He had originally wanted to be a doctor but failed A-level physics.

He was a sergeant on the frontline in the Brixton riots of 1981, returning to the area when he became the Met's Commander in Lambeth in 2000.

It was while he was in charge of the south London patch that he first came to the attention of the wider world.

He sparked controversy in 2001 by ordering officers in Brixton not to arrest or charge people found with cannabis.

He took flak for the move at the time but three years later the then Home Secretary David Blunkett downgraded possession of cannabis from.....continued below

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However, Mr Paddick was rebuked by his bosses when he went a step further, saying that arresting people for using ecstasy was "low" on his priority list.

He also raised a few eyebrows while in charge of Lambeth when he revealed to a website that he "found the concept of anarchism appealing".

He never shied away from criticising homophobic behaviour by fellow police officers, revealing once that he considered leaving the service because of such attitudes.

In an interview in 2004, he said his decision to be open about his sexuality when serving as an inspector was because he "felt it was important that gay and lesbian staff in the Met knew there was someone at a senior level that they could come to".

In 2004 he was promoted to a "desk job" as Deputy Assistant Commissioner.

And within weeks, he was back in the headlines after saying he was "bored and frustrated" in his new role.

Describing his position as "a bit of a non-job", he said: "There are some good deputy commissioner jobs and some less good ones. Somebody has to have the less good ones and it's my turn at the moment."

He was back in the headlines in 2006 when he was moved away from the role as second-in-command of the Met's Territorial Policing division to a position setting up a new information system.

The move came in the wake of a row over the alleged leaking of remarks Met Commissioner Sir Ian Blair was said to have made to senior officers over the cost of a controversial operation to remove placards from Westminster anti-war protester Brian Haw.

He also found himself at the centre of a controversy over the investigation into the police shooting of innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in the wake of the bungled July 21 bomb attacks.