Promotion from ‘Q’ to ‘C’ – Safety Service Mi6 gets a woman at the helm for the first time

For film lovers it is nothing new that MI6 intelligence service is controlled by a woman with short hair and blue eyes; For years, Judi Dench played in the James Bond series ‘M’, the head of the fictional British foreign intelligence service. Ten years after M’s death in the Bond film Skyfall The real British secret service now gets a woman at the helm for the first time. With short hair and blue eyes, Blaise Metreweli is not ‘m’, but the new ‘C’; The code word within the organization for their chef, That’s how British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Sunday.

« I am proud and honored that I was asked to lead my service, » said Metreweli in an official announcement. « Mi6 plays a crucial role (…) in protecting the British population and representing British interests abroad. I look forward to continuing that work. »

From ‘Q’ to ‘C’

The now 47-year-old Metreweli studied Anthropology in Cambridge. Since 1999 she has been employed by the British intelligence service, where she held operational functions in the Middle East and Europe for most of her career. She also held several director’s positions at both MI5 (the domestic security service) and MI6 (the foreign security service). Last year Metreweli was appointed Knight in the Order of Saint Michaël and Sint-Joris, an important diplomatic distinction.

What exactly she has done as a spy in recent decades is strictly secret. It is known that Metreweli is currently working as a director-general responsible for technology and innovation. A role with the abbreviation ‘Q’, named after the same position in the Bond universe. (Although it was never fulfilled by a woman in the films). The name of the chef, the ‘C’, is the only one within the organization that is made public.

In 2017, the British newspaper headed The Guardian Al ‘The Real Q is a Woman”, Which was probably about Metreweli. The then MI6 chef Sir Alex Younger said in that article that the stereotype image about the British intelligence service that comes mainly from the James Bond films, ‘completely incorrect’ is. « The more different people you have in space, in these stressful circumstances in which we operate, the better the decisions, » he said about diversity policy.

The Financial Times In 2022, a number of women in the intelligence service spoke on an anonymous basis, including Q. This woman is described as in the forty with ‘short, blond hair’, a profile that corresponds to Metreweli. According to the newspaper, this Q has « a preference for large, glittering brooches in the form of insects » and spy was the only job she ever wanted. She could also handle her work abroad Ft Not saying much at the time, she said: « We can do extraordinary things in the service of the country, but it is very important that it looks like. »

As the eighteenth chief of MI6, Metreweli Sir Richard Moore succeeds in the fall, whose five -year term will almost end. He calls Metreweli « a very competent intelligence officer and leader, and one of our most important thinkers in the field of technology. » Moore: « I am pleased to welcome her as the first female director of MI6. »

Cyber ​​attacks and terrorism

MI6 is the British intelligence service responsible for collecting information from abroad to protect British national security and to support their foreign policy. The service was founded in 1909 and operates in secret. MI6 works exclusively abroad, from all over the world. The organization focuses on threats such as terrorism and cyber attacks.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed his full confidence in Blaise Metreweli to protect the UK against this. « The United Kingdom is confronted with threats on unprecedented scale (…) and I am sure that Blaise will continue the excellent leadership that is necessary to defend our country. »

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