Ethnic minority candidate given police job despite failing interview
May 1, 2025 – by sophorsnov – Leave a Comment

Senior officers in West Yorkshire Police intervened to ensure that an ethnic minority candidate who failed her interview was given the job, according to leaked documents seen by The Telegraph.

The female officer was initially rejected but eventually given a post after her case was taken up by the force’s chief officer team, which includes Chief Constable John Robins.

To get around her failure, West Yorkshire Police then scrapped interviews for officers transferring to the force, the documents show.

The move will increase pressure on the force, one of the UK’s largest, which has already been accused of prioritizing ethnic minority candidates with “appalling racist hiring” practices.

West Yorkshire Police used the policy change to offer jobs to six other ethnic minority officers who had failed their interviews or had been rejected from shortlists in the previous eight months.

Eight white officers who had been rejected at the interview stage were also offered jobs as a consequence.

One email seen by The Telegraph shows that the female candidate was allowed to join before pre-employment checks were carried out on the orders of the chief officer team.

‘Lost the plot’
A senior officer involved in recruitment made an official complaint to the police watchdog.