Career intelligence officer Blaise Metreweli has been appointed as the first female chief of Britain's MI6. Photo by the U.K. Foreign Office/EPA-EFE
June 16 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the first woman head of the country's secret intelligence service, MI6, since it was formed in 1909.
Blaise Metreweli will be promoted from her current role as "Q," in which she is the agency's lead on technology and innovation. She will take over from the current holder of the role of "C," MI6 Chief Sir Richard Moore, when his term is up in the fall, No. 10 Downing Street said in a news release Sunday.
"The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes 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.
As C, the 47-year-old will serve as the face of British intelligence in more ways than one, since she is the sole named operative. The identities of roughly all 3,600 agents of the organization a closely guarded state secret.
