The £253,000-a-year job of Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police is now officially up for grabs, with the appearance today of the first advertisement – a week later than planned after backstage wrangling halted a first draft.

Applicants for the job of leading the biggest force in the country are required to be British citizens, as the position involves national security. All applications have to be in by noon on December 1, the day that Sir Ian Blair steps down officially after his resignation a month ago.

Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, will make the final decision on what she describes as “an incredibly complex job” after representations from Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, and recommendations from the Metropolitan Police Authority. The successful applicant will be appointed by next spring at the latest.

The advert – in today’s edition of Police Review magazine – was due to appear last week but officials at the police authority, of which Mr Johnson is chairman, clashed with the Home Office over its wording and that of a three-page job description. One source said: “The Home Office produced this silly advert which went on about ‘this prestigious vacancy’ and stuff, and a huge job description and [there were] plans to spend thousands of pounds putting it in national papers.

“Boris’s people thought it was all a bit overblown and daft because there’s only about 12 people capable of applying and they all know what the job of Met Commissioner is.”

The advert, which also appears on the Home Office and MPA websites, calls for someone capable of leading 50,000 staff and managing a budget of £3.5 billion.

It says: “The successful candidate will have proven leadership skills in operations policing, in working with partners and diverse communities, and in managing resources and complex organisations. He or she will demonstrate an outstanding track record in countering terrorism, serious and organised crime, and serious violent crime: in managing change in neighbourhood and other policing functions: and in building the public’s confidence in the service at all levels. He or she will be a key leader of policing nationally.”

Sir Ian resigned on October 2 after Mr Johnson made it clear he could not work with him. Sir Paul Stephenson, who will become Acting Commissioner when Sir Ian steps down on December 1, is the front-runner but there are plenty of other candidates.

Sir Hugh Orde, the police chief in Northern Ireland, Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Chief Constable of Merseyside, and Michael Fuller, the head of Kent Police, are likely candidates, and Jane Stichbury, a former Chief Constable of Dorset and an HM Inspector of Constabulary, is seen as a strong contender. She would be the first woman commissioner if she were to get the job.

The second woman known to be considering applying is Julie Spence, the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, who has argued that forces with high migrant worker populations need extra resources to deal with language difficulties.

Sir Paul Scott-Lee also appears to be positioning himself for a run at the job by announcing this week that he will not seek an extension of his contract as Chief Constable of the West Midlands force when it expires next May.

Matt Baggott, the Chief Constable of Leicestershire, has not put his name forward but may be asked to apply. He spent the first 20 years of his career at the Met, including policing some of the toughest inner-city boroughs, and led the force’s team at the public inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.

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