UK on brink of appointing first female head of MI6

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The UK government is close to choosing the first president of secret intelligence service, MI6, with two women in the final race for the highest job in the agency in charge of the dangerous work of employing recruitment agents to Britain abroad.

In the past few weeks, four candidates who have been chosen to lead the UK’s foreign intelligence service have been reduced to two, according to people familiar with the operation.

The last pair of candidacy for a traditionally known job as the code “C” is Barbara Woodward, currently the permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations and the former ambassador to China, and a candidate from within the MI6.

Looking at the secrecy surrounding SIS employees, the president is the only member of the “announced” spy agency, or publicly called it. For this reason, the times of the Financial Times do not call the internal candidate.

The successful candidate will be the first service president in more than a century since the establishment of SIS. This autumn will take over when the agency’s current president, Sir Richard Moore, will step down after a five -year period. Moore was one of the defenders of the greatest diversity in the dates process, and he had previously pledged that the last “C” would be chosen from a short menu.

White Hall officials said that the final decision will be taken by Prime Minister Sir Kerr Starmer and Foreign Minister David Lami after a round of “fire chats” with the candidates. Jonathan Powell, National Security Adviser at Starmer, is expected to get inputs. The operation was operated by the Cabinet Office under the leadership of Bat McFaden, Duqi Lancaster Counselor.

Three people are aware of the discussions that the announcement of the successful candidate is expected during the next two weeks. One person said that it was partially delayed to avoid engaging with the publication of the long -awaited strategic defense review in the United Kingdom this week.

The other two candidates at the end were Jonathan Allen, Director General of Defense and Intelligence at the Commonwealth and Foreign Development Office (FCDO), and another internal candidate MI6.

It is possible that the president of SIS, the British government has proven that life is already less art. 30 years have passed since the actress Dam Judy Dench, MI6, for the first time in James Bond movie Goldneye.

But for a long time to wait for the leader of a woman in real life, SIS has left her sister agencies, whether in the UK or across the Atlantic Ocean.

MI5 led the Local Intelligence Agency in the United Kingdom by two general managers: Mrs. Stella Remington was appointed in 1992 and the Baronea Elisa Manningham-Puller became the agency’s head after 10 years.

Gchaq, UK Sign Agency, appointed Anne Keast-Butler as her first director. During the first period of Donald Trump as an American president, Gina Hasbil became the first director of the CIA.

The new “C” will enter into work at a critical time for the UK’s intelligence community, as it is struggling with challenges that include the increasingly sabotage of Russia, which is an increasing security threat from Iran and increased the use of cyber attacks to test the country’s critical infrastructure.

Relationships were also developed, including the “Five Eyes Intelligence Sharing Alliance – which includes the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – under pressure by Trump, who threatened to reduce military support for Europe and pass Canada in the United States.

While some of the former ambassadors, including Moore and Mr. John Suisers, have advanced to the role of SIS president, it is rare to have an external candidate who has no direct experience within the agency. It is understood that Woodward did not work directly with MI6.

Moore, who was formerly the UK Ambassador to Türkiye, was initially recruited by MI6 shortly after he left the university before moving to a more traditional diplomatic profession within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

FCDO, who oversees MI6, was immediately commented.