Overview

• Blaise Metreweli will become MI6’s 18th chief and its first woman, succeeding Sir Richard Moore this autumn.
• As current director general ‘Q’, she has led MI6’s technology and innovation efforts.
• Metreweli joined the service in 1999 after studying anthropology at Cambridge and has held operational roles across the Middle East and Europe.
• The UK government recently announced an additional £600 million boost to intelligence budgets to counter sophisticated cyber and state-backed threats.
• Prime Minister Keir Starmer said her leadership is vital as MI6 addresses escalating espionage and hacking campaigns from states like Russia, China and Iran.