Key Points

Blaise Metreweli CMG will be the 18th Chief in the organisation's history and the first woman to hold the role a statement from the UK government said on Monday.

This is the first time in the foreign intelligence service's 116-year history that the MI6 has got a woman head.

Metreweli, 47, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year.

She is currently responsible for technology and innovation at the service and said she was "proud and honoured" to have been asked to lead.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the appointment "historic" at a time "when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital".

"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, " Starmer said.

MI6 is tasked with gathering intelligence overseas to improve the UK's security, with its core aims being to stop terrorism, disrupt the activities of hostile states and bolster cyber-security.

Commonly referred to as 'C', the MI6 Chief has operational responsibility for MI6, and is the only publicly named member of the organisation. They are accountable to the Foreign Secretary.

She is currently Director General 'Q', responsible for technology and innovation division in MI6, and has previously held a Director-level role in MI5.

"MI6 plays a vital role - with MI5 and GCHQ - in keeping the British people safe and promoting UK interests overseas," she said.

Outgoing Chief, Sir Richard Moore, said, "I am absolutely delighted by this historic appointment of my colleague, Blaise Metreweli to succeed me as 'C'. Blaise is a highly accomplished intelligence officer and leader, and one of our foremost thinkers on technology. I am excited to welcome her as the first female head of MI6."

Metreweli is a career intelligence officer, having joined the Service as a case officer in 1999. She has spent most of her career in operational roles in West Asia and Europe. She studied Anthropology at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

- ANI