Blaise Metreweli, 47, a veteran intelligence officer, will become the first woman to lead MI6, the U.K.’s foreign spy agency, in its 116-year history.
Currently serving as Director General “Q”—the head of MI6’s technology and innovation division tasked with protecting agent identities—Metreweli will take the reins this fall, replacing Sir Richard Moore as the agency’s 18th “C,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced.
Metreweli joined MI6 in 1999 and rose through the ranks with deep experience in the Middle East, Europe, and tech innovation.
Until now, only James Bond films had cast a woman as MI6 chief—Dame Judi Dench’s “M” held the fictional post from 1995 to 2015.