New MI6 head's biggest challenge may be our allies

Blaise Metreweli takes over as 'C' at a time when the US and Israel are at the heart of some of Britain's greatest problems

- SAM KILEY

The first woman appointed to the role of "C" as head of the Secret Intelligence Service will be taking over when two of Britain's most important relationships in espionage are strained to breaking point.

And she'll be leading a technological race the UK cannot afford to lose.

Blaise Metreweli, 47, a Cambridge University graduate of social anthropology, has been running department Q in MI6. Her appointment to the top job, where she will be expected to write only in the traditional green ink of the chief, will involve steering its use of radical new technology.

As Q, the title adopted by MI6 in homage to the fictional Q in James Bond movies, she presided over the development of gadgets, secret communications, bugs, weapons and disguises. But also artificial intelligence and the wider digital race for dominance.

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger told The Independent that he was delighted Metreweli had been given the top job.

"She served as Q and knows how to keep a humint [human intelligence] service at the cutting edge in a digital world," he said. "This latter point is key. Only a few humint services will be left standing in the wind of digitalisation. This appointment makes it even more likely that MI6 will be one of them."