UK Appoints Blaise Metreweli as First Woman to Lead MI6 Spy Service.
The UK government has appointed Blaise Metreweli as the first woman to lead its MI6 Secret Intelligence Service, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Sunday, amid growing and unprecedented security challenges.
MI6 made famous by the James Bond franchise is the UK’s principal external spy service. Metreweli will become its 18th chief, according to a statement from 10 Downing Street.
“The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital,” Starmer said. “The United Kingdom is facing unprecedented threats from hostile states sending their spy ships into our waters to sophisticated cyber attacks that aim to undermine our institutions.”
The MI6 chief, who is the only publicly named member of the service, reports directly to the Foreign Secretary and is referred to as “C”, a contrast to “M” in the James Bond stories, where the role was previously depicted by Judi Dench.
Metreweli is expected to take over from the current MI6 chief, Richard Moore, in the autumn.
At present, Metreweli serves as MI6’s Director General for Technology and Innovation, a role in which she oversees the service’s technical operations. She is a career intelligence officer who began her service in 1999 after studying anthropology at Cambridge University.
Over the years, Metreweli held senior roles within both MI6 and its domestic counterpart, MI5, with extensive operational experience in the Middle East and Europe, according to the UK government’s statement.
This appointment comes more than 30 years after Stella Rimington became MI5’s first woman chief in 1992 (until 1996), following which Eliza Manningham-Buller led the service from 2002 to 2007. The UK’s GCHQ, meanwhile, appointed its first woman chief, Anne Keast-Butler, in 2023.
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