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Blaise Metreweli

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Blaise Metreweli
CMG
Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service
Designate
Assuming office
1 October 2025
Prime MinisterSir Keir Starmer
SucceedingSir Richard Moore
Personal details
Born
Blaise Florence Metreweli

July 1977 (age 47)
EducationPembroke College, Cambridge

Blaise Florence Metreweli CMG (born July 1977) is a British civil servant. She is director general of technology and innovation in MI6, scheduled to take over as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") on 1 October 2025, following the retirement of Sir Richard Moore from the Secret Intelligence Service. Upon assuming office she will be the first woman to assume the role.

Early life and education

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An individual named Blaise Metreweli was born in July 1977 in Brent, to a woman whose maiden name was Borkowska.[1][non-primary source needed][better source needed] Metreweli may have been born a twin,[citation needed] one of four children of their parents;[citation needed] a clear report states that Metreweli has an older brother.[2][3] Blaise Metreweli's father may be Constantine Metreweli.[citation needed][4][original research?] Their surname is of Georgian origin.[5][failed verification]

Metreweli studied anthropology at Pembroke College, Cambridge, graduating in 1998.[6][7] In 1997, she was a member of the Cambridge University Women's Boat Club crew which won the Women's Boat Race.[8]

Career

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Metreweli joined MI6 in 1999 and worked continuously as an intelligence officer,[9] including director-level roles at MI5.[10][11] From 2000 until March 2003, Metreweli was Second Secretary for Economic in Dubai, for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.[12]

As of December 2021, Metreweli had a secondment as Head of Hostile States Counterintelligence ("Director K") to MI5.[13][14] As of June 2025, Metreweli was Director General of Technology and Innovation ("Q") at MI6,[14][11][10] with for the first time three of the four directors-general being women.[3]

In June 2025, Metreweli was announced as the next chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), following Sir Richard Moore when he retires in autumn 2025.[15][6] She will take office in September or October of 2025.[14][16] She is the first female head of MI6,[9] who is known as "C". As chief of MI6, she will become the only publicly named member of the service.[9] Robert Mendick, writing for the The Telegraph, described Metreweli as having the qualities and experience of several roles from the James Bond series:

She's 007, M and Q all rolled up into one.[14]

Recognition

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Metreweli was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael & St. George (CMG) in the King's Birthday Honours for 2024, where she was listed as "Director General, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office" with a citation of "For services to British Foreign Policy".[17][18]

Personal life

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Although there is no mention of a spouse or husband, Metreweli disclosed in a 2021 Telegraph interview that she has children, and that they had discovered the true nature of her work through their own investigations.[13][14]

Further reading

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  • David, Rohit. "Quick Facts About Blaise Metreweli: Age, Career, Family, and Appointment as MI6 First Female Chief". International Business Times. Retrieved 16 June 2025.

References

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  1. ^ "FreeBMD Entry Info". www.freebmd.org.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2025.[non-primary source needed]
  2. ^ Eyres, Lebby; Cummings, Ed (16 June 2025). "I Rowed Against 'C'—It's No Surprise She's the New M16 Chief". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b Warrell, Helen (8 December 2022). "British Secret Intelligence Service: The secret lives of MI6's top female spies". FT Magazine. Retrieved 16 June 2025. … one of four directors-general at SIS, each of whom reports to the chief, known as "C". For the first time, three of them are women. … most storied MI6 job of all belongs to Ada, who is the head of technology, known as "Q" after James Bond's mastermind gadgeteer.
  4. ^ Constantine Metreweli, perhaps originally Dobrowolski (see mention of a medical student by this name in "The London Gazette" (PDF).),[non-primary source needed] was on staff at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and may have achieved the medical accreditations/affiliations of BA BChir MB MA (Cantab) DMRD FRCR FRCP FHKAM (Radiology) FHKCR (see "Staff List, Calendar" (PDF). Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong. 2000. pp. 503, 504, 518.).[non-primary source needed] He may have been born in the Ukraine during World War II (see "Imaging Science & Oncology 1999—Finzi Lecture programme" (PDF). British Institute of Radiology. 1999. p. 10.).[non-primary source needed] He may have graduated from Cambridge in 1962 and Oxford in 1967, see "'Lost' Petreans | Peterhouse". www.pet.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2025.[non-primary source needed] and "Imaging Science & Oncology 1999—Finzi Lecture programme", op. cit.[non-primary source needed] He may have worked as a radiologist in the Royal Army Medical Corps, The Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street Hospital, and the Armed Forces Hospital in Riyadh, see "Imaging Science & Oncology 1999—Finzi Lecture programme", op. cit.[non-primary source needed] He may have published numerous scientific papers, and from 1986 to 2001, may have been chair of diagnostic radiology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, see Rohit David, 16 June 2025, op. cit.
  5. ^ Warrell, Helen; Sheppard, David (15 June 2025). "Britain's MI6 Spy Agency Promotes 'Q' to be First Female Head". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b Plunkett, Suzanne (15 June 2025). "Britain appoints first female head of MI6 spy agency". Reuters. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Congregations of the Regent House on 26 and 27 June 1998". Cambridge University Reporter. Retrieved 17 June 2025.
  8. ^ Kingsbury, Jane; Kingsbury, Nick. "Crews of the 1990s". Cambridge University Women's Boat Club history. Retrieved 16 June 2025.
  9. ^ a b c Haynes, Deborah. "Career spy Blaise Metreweli to become first woman to head MI6". Sky News. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  10. ^ a b Mitchell, Archie (15 June 2025). "Blaise Metreweli appointed as first female head of MI6". The Independent. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  11. ^ a b "First ever female MI6 chief appointed". National Security; News. Gov.uk (Press release). Prime Minister's Office and Keir Starmer. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  12. ^ Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2006). "Metreweli; Blaise Florence". Part IV: Biographical list. The Diplomatic Service list. Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. p. 263. ISSN 0419-1714. FCO since March 2003; Born [1977-07-30]; FCO 1999; Second Secretary (Economic) Dubai 2000; Band C4
  13. ^ a b Mendick, Robert (3 December 2021). "Exclusive: Meet 'Director K', the MI5 Spy Responsible for Keeping Britain Safe From China and Russia". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 16 June 2025. Director K's real name cannot be disclosed in public. The Telegraph does not know who she really is. Only her boss, Ken McCallum, MI5's director-general, is in the public domain. ... Director K also admitted her children had discovered her real job after espionage work of their own. / 'Normally you would not tell children early because it is quite a big secret to hold...'.
  14. ^ a b c d e Mendick, Robert (16 June 2025). "The New MI6 Chief is No Diversity Hire". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2025. Blaise Metreweli to become the new—and first female—head of MI6. I interviewed her for The Telegraph back in December 2021 when she was on a secondment to MI5, heading up the department that counters the threat posed to the UK by hostile states. … When I interviewed Ms Metreweli, she had the title Director K—or DK for those in the know—on a briefish loan to MI5. … Ms Metreweli had already spent two decades in MI6, working in operational roles in Europe and crucially the Middle East. … Ms Metreweli will take up her new post as C in September … she currently holds the title of Q, short for quartermaster, in charge of developing MI6's technical capabilities … It is worth noting that under her watch, the BBC was given unique access to Hanslope Park in Buckinghamshire, where MI6's science laboratories are based. … Ms Metreweli is the smart choice for MI6's new chief: dynamic, shrewd and media savvy. She's 007, M and Q all rolled up into one.
  15. ^ Mason, Chris; Gardner, Frank; Preston, Rich (15 June 2025). "Blaise Metreweli appointed as MI6's first female chief". BBC News. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  16. ^ Moore, Richard [@ChiefMI6] (16 June 2025). "[No title.]" (Tweet). Retrieved 16 June 2025 – via Twitter. I am delighted to announce that Blaise Metreweli will succeed me as Chief of #MI6 on 1 October 2025. Blaise has had a distinguished career as an intelligence officer and leader. She possesses all the qualities to be an outstanding 'C' …
  17. ^ "Order of Saint Michael and Saint George: Blaise METREWELI". The Gazette. 15 June 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  18. ^ Dunton, Jim; Markson, Tevye (17 June 2024). "Perm secs recognised in King's Birthday Honours". Civil Service World. Retrieved 16 June 2025. Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George … Blaise Metreweli, director general, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. For services to British foreign policy.
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