After Comments About 'Too Many Women,' A Deputy Police Chief Resigns

After suggesting that the number of women in some fire departments be reduced, a deputy police and crime commissioner resigned.

At a Hampshire fire authority meeting in December, Luke Stubbs said that equality goals "primarily benefit women and minorities."

His statements were severely panned, and he later apologized.

Mr. Stubbs has subsequently resigned, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He made his remarks during a meeting of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Authority, when plans to hire more women and people from minority ethnic groups were discussed.

"Government is bringing in quota programs across the public sector - and I think this is bad," Mr Stubbs said, "but only where it favors women and minorities."

"It has to be 50/50 in regions where it's largely men, but there's no change in areas where it's mostly women."

"I would like confidence that actions are being taken to lower that," he said, noting that the fire service's control room was 84 percent female.

He apologized for "any pain or offence caused" after receiving pushback and condemnation from firefighters around the country.

Mr Stubbs was found in breach of the code of conduct, according to John Beavis, a member of the police and crime panel's complaints sub-committee.

"He [Mr Stubbs] likes to speak his thoughts," he continued, "but if you're representing the police and crime commissioner at a meeting, you're defending her policies."

"Instead, we discovered that he used the platform to communicate his personal opinions," said the investigator.

Mr Stubbs, who earned £65,025 a year, was formerly the deputy Conservative Party leader at Portsmouth City Council, where he also worked under Donna Jones, the current police and crime commissioner for Hampshire.