MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence service, is to be led by a woman for the first time, Keir Starmer has announced.
Blaise Metreweli, a career intelligence officer who joined the service in 1999, will take over from Sir Richard Moore in the autumn, becoming its 18th chief.
Metreweli, 47, is currently the director general of MI6’s Q section, responsible for technology and innovation, and previously held other director-level roles in MI6 and in MI5, the domestic security and counter-intelligence agency.
According to the other brief biographical details given in the announcement, she studied social anthropology at Cambridge University and spent much of her career in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe.
Starmer said: “The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital. The United Kingdom is facing threats on an unprecedented scale, be it aggressors who send their spy ships to our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber-plots seek to disrupt our public services.”
Metreweli, who was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George last year, said: “I am proud and honoured to be asked to lead my service. MI6 plays a vital role – with MI5 and GCHQ – in keeping the British people safe and promoting UK interests overseas. I look forward to continuing that work alongside the brave officers and agents of MI6 and our many international partners.”
Unlike its sister UK spy agencies, MI6 has never had a female head since it was founded in 1909. MI5 has previously been led by Stella Rimington and Eliza Manningham-Buller, and the current head of GCHQ is Anne Keast-Butler, its first female leader.
Metreweli’s appointment is a case of life imitating art. Film buffs will remember Judi Dench’s turn as James Bond’s boss, M, over 17 years of the franchise.
By convention the head of MI6 is known internally as C, short for chief, and is the agency’s only officer who is named and publicly acknowledged, gradually adopting a more public profile with occasional speeches and social media postings.
Moore’s tenure was due to come to an end shortly. He has served nearly five years in the role, which he took up in September 2020. Five years is the considered maximum term for British spy chiefs, who typically move into consultancy and the private sector.
Unlike his successor, who has spent her career inside MI5 and MI6, Moore was a relatively high-profile appointment, having been a diplomat. He spent nearly four years as ambassador to Turkey, where he formed a strong relationship with the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
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