In an unprecedented step, the United Kingdom has appointed Blaise Metreweli as the first woman to lead its Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). The announcement came directly from Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Downing Street office, underscoring the appointment’s significance at a time when the nation’s intelligence services face escalating global threats.
“The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital,” Starmer stated, highlighting the increasingly complex challenges posed by foreign adversaries, cyber attackers, and evolving geopolitical tensions. “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.”
UK appoints Blaise Metreweli first woman head of MI6 spy servicehttps://t.co/oBIDtuwjT2 pic.twitter.com/tQSkiOiqXr
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) June 16, 2025
Metreweli will officially assume the role in the autumn, succeeding the outgoing MI6 chief Richard Moore. As tradition dictates, the MI6 head is referred to as “C”, a title that dates back to the agency’s early days, distinct from the fictional “M” portrayed famously by Judi Dench in the James Bond franchise.
Currently serving as MI6’s Director General responsible for technology and innovation—a position internally known as “Q”—Metreweli brings decades of experience to her new role. Having joined the service in 1999 after studying anthropology at Cambridge University, she has held several senior roles within both MI6 and its domestic counterpart, MI5. Her career includes extensive operational experience across the Middle East and Europe, although further details remain classified.
Her appointment follows a slow but significant rise of women to leadership roles across the UK’s intelligence community. MI5 first appointed a female chief, Stella Rimington, back in 1992, followed by Eliza Manningham-Buller in 2002. The GCHQ, the UK’s cyber intelligence agency, named Anne Keast-Butler as its first woman chief in 2023.
