Chris is elected as new branch secretary

10 May 2026

Chris James has been elected as the new secretary of the West Midlands Police Federation branch.

He takes over from Tim Rogers, who retired last month.

“I am delighted to have been elected to this position and looking forward to building on the strong foundations we already have in the branch,” says Chris, who first became a workplace representative in 2018.

“Having served alongside Tim as his deputy secretary for four years, I want to put on record my thanks to him for his guidance and support and wish him all the best in his retirement.

“I plan to continue ensuring the branch remains member‑focused, independent in thought, constructive in challenge, and recognised as a benchmark for excellence. I believe this can only be achieved by working collaboratively, harnessing individual strengths, and engaging effectively at local, regional, and national levels.

Constructive

“I have built strong and effective working relationships with senior leaders within the Force and key stakeholders. These relationships support open dialogue and constructive challenge.”

Chris officially takes up his position on 1 May and says that he intends to ‘hit the ground running’. Admitting that there will still be a learning curve, he believes his experience to date will enable him to significantly reduce its steepness.”

The new secretary joined the Force on 23 April 2007, signing up as he wanted a job where he felt he could make a difference. With a sound knowledge of Police Regulations, he first became a Federation workplace representative to support colleagues and stand up for them when he felt things were not right.

He acknowledges that being a rep is not always plain sailing: “One of the biggest challenges is accepting you can’t help everyone or solve everything. You must always balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the membership as a whole. The reward is when you finish a case and can see that you have made a significant, positive impact on a member.”

Chris has undertaken Federation courses in health and safety, equality, conduct, advocacy and post-incident procedures and is also experienced as a trustee. He is a Force Bluelight Mind Champion and has completed mental health first aid training.

Challenge

Looking ahead, he believes the branch has to rise to the challenge of restoring members’ confidence in the Federation.

“We need to ensure we continue to improve the engagement with the membership while also holding the Force to account,” Chris explains, “At the same time, we must work to improve the Federation nationally. We must ensure that the Police Federation is representative of our diverse membership and always puts them first.

“We must strive for better member engagement, accountability and transparency. Members want to see one Federation working together to bring change that will positively impact them. We need to ensure that every member has a voice. Sometimes we only hear the loudest voices, when it is the quietest ones we should be listening to.”

Chris will work closely with branch chair Jess Davies and deputy chair Mat Minton and says they will work together with the new deputy secretary, who is due to be elected next week/later this week to continue to develop a Federation of which the members and the branch itself can be proud.