The head of the UK's foreign intelligence service, also known as MI6, will for the first time in its history be a woman — 47-year-old Blaise Metreveli, who previously held the position of head of the technology and innovation department, announced the British government press service. She will replace Sir Richard Moore, who is leaving the service in the fall, and will become the 18th chief of intelligence.
The head of MI6 reports to the Foreign Secretary and is the only publicly known member of the organization. Prior to her appointment, Blaise Metreveli held the position of head of the MI6 department and previously held leadership positions in the counterintelligence service. She joined the intelligence service in 1999 when she was still a student at Cambridge. She studied social anthropology at the University of Cambridge and spent most of her career in operational positions in the Middle East and Europe.
“The historic appointment of Blaise Metreveli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services is more important than ever. The United Kingdom faces threats of unprecedented scale — whether it's aggressors sending their spy ships into our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber plots aim to disrupt the work of our public services,” said the country's Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“Every day, our intelligence services work behind the scenes to protect our national security and confront our adversaries. That's why I am proud that we are investing an additional 600 million pounds sterling in our intelligence services so they can continue to protect our way of life,” said the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy.