Bernard Hogan-Howe, the newly elected chief of Scotland Yard, has promised to cut crime and slash costs.

In a video message to the force, the 53-year-old Commissioner outlined three aims:

“I want us to… continue to develop the culture of the organisation - our diversity and the way we relate to each other - and to do all that based on simple but important values of humility, transparency and integrity.”

The former chief constable of Merseyside was promoted to the post following the resignation of Sir Paul Stephenson, following the latter’s embroilment in the recent phone hacking scandal.

Hogan-Howe vowed to “make the Met the best police service in the UK, and the best police service in the world”, while promising to “lead an organisation that looks constantly to improve itself at all levels, from me right through to those on the ground”.

"It is my intention to build on public trust in the MPS and lead a service that criminals will fear, and staff will be proud to work for," he said.

Hogan-Howe has a reputation as a "no-nonsense" officer, critical of soft sentencing, while advocating a strategy of "total policing".

Home Secretary Theresa May has described her new appointee as a "tough, single-minded crime fighter", while London Mayor Boris Johnson said he would "crack down on disorder".

As well as the fallout from the recent riots, the new chief will need to build moral in the aftermath of the phone hacking scandal, as well as look forward to the policing of next year's Olympic Games.