Britain's MI6 ‘Q' steps out of shadows to become first female spymaster
British spy agency MI6 has named an insider as its first female leader, after her rival for the role was criticised for being too soft on China.
Blaise Metreweli, 47, a Cambridge University graduate who once rowed in the women's Boat Race, currently holds the position of 'Q', the head of the service's technical branch, made famous by the James Bond franchise.
The appointment of a woman as 'C', the head of MI6, formally known as the Secret Intelligence Service, is a case of life imitating art. Dame Judi Dench has played 'M', the head of the SIS in the Bond franchise, in many of the recent 007 films.
Metreweli will become the international spying agency's 18th chief and its first female leader. She joined MI6 in 1999 and has spent time in the field in the Middle East and Europe.
She won the appointment despite her rival, Dame Barbara Woodward, being seen by some as the front-runner.
Dame Barbara was the British ambassador to China between 2015 and 2020, and criticism emerged in recent weeks suggesting that she had been too soft on the Communist country.
She was dubbed 'Beijing Barbara' in some reports, in what some observers saw as a campaign to try to block her candidacy. Critics included Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, who said that she had been 'less than robust' about the Beijing regime's track record on human rights and freedom.
The UK's stance on China has hardened in the last decade after the so-called 'golden era' of British-Chinese relations when Lord Cameron was prime minister and George Osborne was chancellor.
Donald Trump's return to the White House has put new emphasis on Britain's position on Beijing, with Keir Starmer trying to improve relations, especially on trade, with China.
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