Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Sunday Blaise Metreweli as the first woman to lead the U.K.'s MI6 intelligence agency, citing an era of "unprecedented" security threats.
The MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) achieved global fame through Ian Fleming's fictional agent James Bond.
Metreweli will be the 18th head of the service, Starmer's Downing Street office said in a statement.
"The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital," Starmer said.
"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," he added.
