For the first time in the 116-year history of the Foreign Intelligence Service MI6 will be headed by a woman – Blaise Metrevely, the British government press service reports.
She will succeed Richard Moore, who will leave the service in autumn.
Blaise Metreveli will be the 18th chief executive in the organisation’s history and the first woman to hold the post. The chief has operational responsibility for MI6 and is the only publicly named member of the organisation. She reports to the Foreign Secretary.
“I am delighted to appoint Blaise Metrevely as the next head of MI6. With a wealth of experience in our national security community, Blaise is the ideal candidate to lead MI6 into the future. At a time of global instability and new security threats, where technology is power and our adversaries are co-operating ever more closely, Blaise will ensure that Britain can meet these challenges directly,” said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
Blaise Metreveli reportedly joined the secret intelligence service in 1999, she is believed to be of Georgian origin.
According to the BBC, Metreveli, who studied anthropology at Cambridge University, previously held director posts at MI5 – the internal security subsidiary of MI6 – and has spent much of her career working in the Middle East and Europe.