Paul Condon, who served as commissioner of the Metropolitan Police from 1993 to 2000, admitted before the Undercover Policing Inquiry on 21 July 2026 that the Met failed over decades to properly control its undercover unit, the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS). Condon is the highest-ranked officer to have given evidence to the inquiry, which is chaired by retired judge Sir John Mitting The Guardian.

During his testimony, Condon personally apologized to every person damaged by the actions of SDS officers. He also told the inquiry that he knew nothing of the SDS abuses when he was in charge of the Met. Condon, who became a member of the House of Lords after his police career, appeared as a witness in the inquiry's Tranche 3, Phase 3 hearings, which commenced on 15 June 2026.

The SDS operated from 1968 to 2008. Its undercover officers adopted false identities to infiltrate mainly leftwing groups, with deployments typically lasting four years. The unit's activities have been the subject of the inquiry's multi-phase investigation into undercover policing methods deployed by the Met over a forty-year period.

Condon's witness statement was referenced during the inquiry's evidence hearing on 22 June 2026, the sixth day of T3P3 sessions. The following day, 23 June 2026, the inquiry heard reference to an interview Condon gave as part of the Ellison review, termed the "Ellison interview" in proceedings UCPI. The Ellison review's findings on SDS misconduct preceded the establishment of the inquiry itself.

The fact that Condon, as commissioner throughout the 1990s, had no knowledge of abuses within a unit operating under his own force's authority raises pointed institutional questions. The SDS had been active for twenty-five years before Condon's tenure and continued for eight years after his departure. His admission that the Met failed to control the unit over decades confirms that the governance gap spanned multiple commissioners, not a single administration. For an expert audience, the critical issue is whether any commissioner could realistically have exercised oversight of a unit whose very design depended on operational secrecy, and whether the chain of command was structured so that accountability was diffuse enough to prevent anyone from seeing the whole picture. Condon's testimony, combined with his stated lack of awareness, suggests the SDS operated within a reporting structure that deliberately kept senior leadership at a remove.

The inquiry's Tranche 3 Phase 3 hearings, which began on 15 June 2026, are examining management and oversight of undercover policing during a period that includes Condon's commissionership. His appearance as the most senior officer to testify places the question of institutional responsibility squarely before the inquiry. The distinction between personal knowledge and institutional accountability is one that Sir John Mitting will need to draw.

For the individuals who were subjected to SDS infiltration, including those who were deceived into long-term personal relationships by undercover officers operating under fabricated identities, Condon's apology is the first from a commissioner-level figure. Whether that apology carries institutional weight or remains a personal statement is a matter the inquiry's eventual findings will need to clarify. The SDS was disbanded in 2008, but the inquiry's work continues to map the full extent of its operations and the chain of command that permitted them.