Middle East expert Blaise Metreweli is the first female chief of British intelligence

For the first time in its 116‑year history, Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) will be led by a woman. Blaise Metreweli, 47, currently the agency’s Director General of Technology and Innovation, known as “Q”, has been named the next “C”, replacing Sir Richard Moore.

Her term officially begins on October 1, 2025.

Metreweli, who has years of field experience, joined MI6 in 1999, serving in operations across the Middle East and Europe, before taking on her current “Q” role, focused on technologies like biometric evasion and quantum‑safe encryption, according to reports in the British media and agencies. MI6 is tasked with protecting UK interests overseas by countering terrorism, hostile states and cyber threats. Her appointment follows that of female leaders in MI5 and GCHQ, aligning MI6 with the broader gender shifts across the UK’s intelligence community.

According to her resume, Metreweli also held senior posts in MI5 and earned a degree in anthropology from Cambridge.

The British media quoted Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, as calling her appointment as “historic”. Her also emphasised that Metreweli takes charge amid “unprecedented” threats, naming Russia, China, and Iran as primary concerns. MI6, along with MI5 and GCHQ, has pointed to a sophisticated wave of Russian sabotage across Europe aimed at undermining support for Ukraine, and to China and Iran as major adversaries.

Sir Richard Moore said he was delighted with her selection, calling her “a highly accomplished intelligence officer and leader, and one of our foremost thinkers on technology”. He posted on X, “I am delighted to announce that Blaise Metreweli will succeed me as Chief of #MI6 on 1 October 2025. Blaise has had a distinguished career as an intelligence officer and leader. She possesses all the qualities to be an outstanding ‘C’.” Former MI6 boss Sir Alex Younger also said he is “really pleased” by the appointment of Metreweli.

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