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The UK government is close to the choice of its first MI6 secret intelligence service, and two women in the final race for the main job in an agency that instructed the dangerous work of the recruitment agents to spy on Britain abroad.
Over the past few weeks, four candidates who have been short -lived to head the UK’s foreign intelligence service have been postponed to two, people who are familiar with the process report.
The latest work that works for work is traditionally known for the name of the “C” code – this is Barbara Woodward, currently a regular UK representative to the UN and a former ambassador to China, and a woman’s candidate from the inside MI6.
Given the secrecy around Sister The head of the staffing is the only member of the spy agency who was “launched” or publicly named. For this reason, the Financial Times does not call the internal candidate.
A successful candidate will be the first woman -head of the service for more than a century since the founding of SIS. It will take role this fall, when the current head of the agency, Sir Richard Moore, goes away after a five -year term. The wall was a fan of greater diversity in the appointment and previously promised that he would be the last “C”, which would be selected from all over the man.
The final decision will be made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer And Foreign Minister David Lami after the round of “fires” with the candidates, said Whiteholla officials. Jonathan Powell is expected to have a Starmer National Security Advisor also has a contribution. The process was managed by the Cabinet of Ministers under Pat Macfadden, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
A successful candidate is expected in the next couple of weeks, and three people are familiar with discussions. This week, one person was detained to avoid a collision with the publication of the long -awaited UK strategic defense, one person said.
The other two candidates for the fourth final were Jonathan Allen, CEO of Foreign Defense and Intelligence, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) and another internal Mi6 candidate.
Potentially appointing the chief of the woman, the British government proved that life really imitates art. It’s been 30 years since actress Dama Judy Dench first played MI6 leader in James Bond’s movie Goldeneye.
But waiting for a long time a woman in real life, SIS lagged behind her sister agencies, both in the UK and across the Atlantic.
The MI5, the UK’s domestic intelligence agency, headed two General Directors: Lada Stela Rimington was appointed in 1992, and Baronez Eliza Manning-Bueller became the head of the agency 10 years later.
Two years ago, GCHQ, the UK intelligence agency, appointed Anne Cutler with her first woman. During the first term, Donald Trump as a US president, Gin Haspel became the first CIA director.
The new “C” will come to work in critical time for the intelligence community of the UK, as it is fighting problems, including more and more militant Russia, the growth of Iran’s security threat and the increase in the use of cyberattacks to check the country’s critical infrastructure.
Relations, including the “five eyes” of the Alliance containing the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – were also under the tension of Trump, which threatened to reduce Europe’s military support and connect Canada in the US.
While some former ambassadors, including Moore and Sir John Savers, have passed to the role of SIS chief, there is rarely an external candidate without direct experience in the agency. Woodward has never worked directly for MI6.
Moore, previously the UK ambassador to Turkey, joined MI6 shortly after leaving the university and spent more than two decades at the agency before going to the role of Ankara.
The FCDO, which oversees Mi6, does not immediately comment.
