Andy Roe, Baron Roe of West Wickham

Andy Roe grew up in London and graduated from Newcastle University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature.^{[citation needed]}

In 1997, Roe was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and joined the 12th Regiment Royal Artillery as a second lieutenant.^[3] During his time as an officer, he served as a troop commander and a battery captain and served two tours in Northern Ireland.^[4] During his time in Northern Ireland, he was wounded when a pipe bomb was thrown at him, which also severely injured an RUC officer stood next to Roe.^[5] The officer died after spending four weeks on a life support machine. As a captain, he transferred his commission to the Army reserve in April 2000.^[6]

In 2002, Roe joined the London Fire Brigade as a firefighter^[7] and in January 2017 was appointed as Assistant Commissioner.^[8]

During the Grenfell Tower fire, Roe was appointed incident commander where he revoked the controversial 'stay put' advice to the residents.^[9] As the first commissioner appointed since the fire, Roe issued a plea to the residents of London's 7,000 high rise blocks to set aside any 'post-Grenfell doubts continue to follow firefighters’ advice in the event of a blaze.'^[10]

On 28 January 2020, Roe became the first LFB commissioner to sign the Armed Forces Covenant with the British Armed Forces.^[11]

Roe was awarded the King's Fire Service Medal (KFSM) in the 2024 New Year Honours.^[12]

Roe resigned as the Commissioner for the London Fire Brigade on 30 June 2025 after 23 years of service as a firefighter.^[13] Following his resignation from the LFB, Roe was named the non-executive chair of a newly formed shadow board within the Building Safety Regulator.^[14] He was nominated for a life peerage as part of the 2025 Political Peerages and he was created Baron Roe of West Wickham, of West Wickham in the London Borough of Bromley on 13 January 2026.^[15][16]

• London Fire Brigade
• Chief Fire Officer
• London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority
• Chief Fire Officers Association