If you’ve ever fancied yourself as the most senior officer in the British police force, now might be the chance you’ve been waiting for.

The race to find the next commissioner of the Metropolitan police will start today as an advert for the job is published.

Speculation as to who will replace Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has been rife since September when the current Scotland Yard boss, announced that he would retire seven months before the end of his contract.

Whoever holds the post is considered to be the most senior officer in Britain because of the national responsibilities of the Met, which include counter-terrorism.

At a policing conference in London, home secretary Amber Rudd said: “The advertisement will be going live today.

“I look forward to some very talented applications coming through for that very important role.”

According to the advert on gov.uk, applicants must either be a serving UK chief constable or an equivalent or more senior rank, or have had recent experience in one of those roles.

Officers of specified ranks from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States can also apply.

The deadline is midday on January 4.

The dramatic announcement of Sir Bernard's departure after five years as head of Scotland Yard caused surprise.

The 59-year-old, who was appointed Met Commissioner in 2011 and earned £278,563 a year, was expected to remain in the role until at least September next year.

However, the force announced that Sir Bernard was to retire, remaining in the post until February 2017 to allow the home secretary and mayor of London Sadiq Khan to appoint a successor.

He denied this was due to concerns Mr Khan would decline to renew his contract, or in the wake of the force's doomed investigation into claims of a VIP paedophile ring.

Operation Midland, which lasted 16 months and cost £2.5 million, ended earlier this year without a single arrest and a review found there had been “numerous errors” in the probe.

Possible candidates for the job include Mark Rowley, the assistant commissioner in specialist operations at the Met, and the national policing lead for counter-terrorism.

Chairwoman of the National Police Chiefs' Council Sara Thornton is another potential contender, who was chief constable of Thames Valley Police for nearly eight years.

There is also Cressida Dick, now a director-general at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who was previously the country's most senior female police officer before she left the Met years in December 2014.

Stephen Kavanagh, chief constable of Essex Police, who helped write national hate crime guidelines after the inquiry into the racist murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence, is another possibility.