16 June 2025 - UK Appoints First Woman to Lead MI6 in Its 116-Year History
Blaise Metreweli named as first woman to lead UK intelligence service MI6
Peter Walker and Dan Sabbagh (The Guardian, 15/06/2025)
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.
Britain appoints first female head of MI6 spy agency
Suzanne Plunkett (Reuters, 15/06/2025)
Britain on Sunday named Blaise Metreweli, a career intelligence officer, as the first female head of the Secret Intelligence Service, the foreign spy service known as MI6. Metreweli, 47, who is currently MI6's head of technology, known as "Q", joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, and has spent most of her career in operational roles in the Middle East and Europe, the government said in a statement. Richard Moore, the current chief of MI6, will step down in the autumn after a five-year tenure. "I am proud and honoured to be asked to lead my service," said Metreweli, who takes on one of the most powerful jobs in Western intelligence and will be known by the code name "C".
MI6 appoints first female chief in 116-year history
Chris Mason, Frank Gardner and Rich Preston (BBC News, 15/06/2025)
MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service's 116-year history. Blaise Metreweli, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will become the 18th chief of the organisation and take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year. She is currently responsible for technology and innovation at the service and said she was "proud and honoured" to have been asked to lead. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the appointment "historic" at a time "when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital".
First ever female MI6 chief appointed
Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer KCB KC MP (GOV.UK, 15/06/2025)
The first ever female Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) has been announced by the Prime Minister today. Blaise Metreweli CMG will be the 18th Chief in the organisation’s history and the first woman to hold the role, at a time when the United Kingdom faces increased threats from our adversaries. Commonly referred to as ‘C’, the Chief has operational responsibility for MI6, and is the only publicly named member of the organisation. They are accountable to the Foreign Secretary.
The SIS Building (or MI6 Building). Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 2.0.
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