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2mo ago

Britain Names Blaise Metreweli as First Woman to Lead MI6

She is set to assume command of the agency on October 1, 2025, following more than two decades leading MI6’s technology and innovation efforts at a time of escalating espionage and cyber risk.

Metreweli, 47, is a Cambridge University anthropology graduate who was in the winning crew against Oxford in the 1997 Boat Race (Photo: UK Government/AFP/Getty)
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Overview

  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Metreweli as the 18th MI6 chief on June 15, marking the agency’s first female leader in its 116-year history.
  • Metreweli joined MI6 in 1999 after studying anthropology at Cambridge and has held senior operational roles across the Middle East and Europe.
  • In her current role as Director General ‘Q’, she has overseen the agency’s technology and innovation division, earning a CMG in 2024 for services to British foreign policy.
  • She will succeed Sir Richard Moore on October 1, 2025, taking on full operational responsibility as ‘C’ and reporting directly to Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
  • The appointment brings MI6 in line with MI5 and GCHQ as the last of the UK’s main intelligence agencies to appoint a female head during a period of heightened espionage and cyber threats.