Stephen House QPM Chief Constable Strathclyde Police

Mr House was born in Glasgow, where he lived until his family moved south in 1968. He returned to Scotland to study at Aberdeen University before joining Sussex Police in 1981.

He was a constable in Brighton for most of his early service. He was promoted to sergeant on transfer to Northamptonshire Police in 1988. On promotion to Inspector, he worked as staff officer to the chief constable. He was later a chief inspector at the force headquarters and at division in Kettering & Wellingborough.

In 1994, he transferred to West Yorkshire Police where he worked firstly as a superintendent in the performance unit and then as divisional commander in Central Bradford for three years.

He attended the Senior Command Course at Bramshill in 1997, and in the following year was appointed assistant chief constable in Staffordshire. While there he was responsible for territorial policing and later specialist services.

Mr House joined the Metropolitan Police Service in December 2001 as deputy assistant commissioner. Initially he worked in Policy Reviews & Standards and moved to Territorial Policing in early 2003. He was appointed assistant commissioner Central Operations in January 2005 setting up the new business group from scratch.

In 2006, he was asked to take command of the Specialist Crime Directorate with responsibility for all types of serious and international crime.

In 2007, Mr House was appointed Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.

Mr House was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal in 2005. He is married to Caroline and they have three children.