The chief of the Secret Intelligence Service serves as the head of the

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intellige ...

(SIS, also commonly known as MI6), which is part of the

United Kingdom intelligence community The Government of the United Kingdom maintains intelligence agencies within three government departments, the Foreign Office, the Home Office and the Ministry of Defence. These agencies are responsible for collecting and analysing foreign and ...

. The chief is appointed by the

foreign secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwe ...

, to whom they report directly. Annual reports are also made to the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. The chief of the Secret Intelligence Service typically signs letters with a "C" in green ink. This originates from the initial used by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Sir

Mansfield Smith-Cumming Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming (1 April 1859 – 14 June 1923) was a British naval officer who served as the first chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Origins He was a great-great grandson of the prominent merchant John ...

, when he signed a letter "C" in green ink. Since then the chief has been known as "C".

History

From 1782 until 1909, British intelligence at the government level was handled directly by the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * Unit ...

, with the Army and Navy also maintaining their own intelligence branches. By 1909, growing tensions with Germany led the

Committee of Imperial Defence The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ''ad hoc'' part of the Government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of the Second World War. It was responsible for research, and som ...

to recommend the creation of the Secret Service Bureau to provide organization and leadership to the intelligence-gathering process as well as a layer of insulation from espionage activities for the Foreign Office. A 10 August 1909 letter from the Director of Naval Intelligence,

Alexander Bethell Admiral Sir Alexander Edward Bethell (28 August 1855 – 13 June 1932) was a British naval officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth of the Royal Navy. Naval career Born the second son of Richard Augustus Bethell, 2nd Baron Westbury, B ...

, to then-Commander

offered him a "new billet": the opportunity to head the Foreign Section of the new Secret Service Bureau. Cumming was to begin in this role on 1 October 1909, but bureaucratic and funding obstacles delayed the start of his work. His first full day in this capacity was not until 7 October, and even then, he "went to the office and remained all day, but saw no one, nor was there anything to do there." Cumming's tenure as chief established many of the traditions and trappings of the office. Among the best known of these, he signed documents with the initial "C" in green ink, a custom upheld throughout the history of the service. One tradition that was not maintained was the selection of the Chief from the ranks of the Royal Navy. Although Cumming and his successor

Hugh Sinclair Admiral Sir Hugh Francis Paget Sinclair, (18 August 1873 – 4 November 1939), known as Quex Sinclair, was a British intelligence officer. He was Director of British Naval Intelligence between 1919 and 1921, and he subsequently helped to set ...

both had long Navy careers, in 1939 Army veteran

Stewart Menzies Major General Sir Stewart Graham Menzies, (; 30 January 1890 – 29 May 1968) was Chief of MI6, the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), from 1939 to 1952, during and after the Second World War. Early life, family Stewart Graham Menzies wa ...

was appointed over naval officer (and

Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

's preferred candidate)

Gerard Muirhead-Gould Rear Admiral Gerard Charles Muirhead-Gould, (29 May 1889 – 26 June 1945) was an officer of the Royal Navy. Early life and career Muirhead-Gould was born in London on 29 May 1889,Taylor 2003 the son of Arthur Lewis Gould and Emily Gertrude Lil ...

. Plans to rotate the selection of Chief among the various branches of military service were considered, but most subsequent Chiefs have been career intelligence officers. Although the existence of the Secret Intelligence Service, much less its Chief, was not officially acknowledged until 1992, the role's reality was an open secret for many years. In 1932,

Compton MacKenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish nationalist. He was one of th ...

was fined under the

Official Secrets Act An Official Secrets Act (OSA) is legislation that provides for the protection of state secrets and official information, mainly related to national security but in unrevised form (based on the UK Official Secrets Act 1911) can include all infor ...

for elements of his book ''Greek Memories''. Among these offences, according to

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Sir Thomas Inskip was "reveal ngthe mysterious consonant by which the Chief of the Secret Service is known." By 30 May 1968, however, ''The Times'' was willing to name Menzies as the "former Head of the Secret Intelligence Service" in his obituary. A 1989 House of Commons debate listed a number of publications in which information about the Chief and his organization had been revealed. The 1994 Intelligence Services Act established a statutory basis for the Secret Intelligence Service and the position of Chief. Since then, the office has had more public visibility, including a speech by

John Sawers Sir Robert John Sawers FRUSI (born 26 July 1955) is a British intelligence officer, diplomat and civil servant. He was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), a position he held from November 2009 until November 2014. He was previously ...

in 2010, described by ''The Times'' it as "the first of its kind". The Chief remains the only member of the Secret Intelligence Service whose identity is officially made public. A 2010 report revealed the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service was receiving a salary of £169,999 at that time.

List of chiefs

Chiefs have been: #

Sir

(1909–1923) #

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...

Sir

(1923–1939) #

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sir

(1939–1952) #Major-General Sir John Sinclair (1953–1956) #Sir Richard White (1956–1968) #Sir John Rennie (1968–1973) #Sir

Maurice Oldfield Sir Maurice Oldfield (16 November 1915 – 11 March 1981) was a British intelligence officer and espionage administrator. He served as the seventh director of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), from 1973 to 1978. Early life Oldfield was ...

(1973–1978) #Sir Arthur (Dickie) Franks (1979–1982) #Sir Colin Figures (1982–1985) #Sir Christopher Curwen (1985–1989) #Sir Colin McColl (1989–1994) #Sir

David Spedding Sir David Rolland Spedding (7 March 1943 – 13 June 2001) was Head of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1994 to 1999. Early life David Spedding was the son of a Border Regiment lieutenant colonel, and grew up comfortably m ...

(1994–1999) #Sir Richard Dearlove (1999–2004) #Sir

John Scarlett Sir John McLeod Scarlett (born 18 August 1948) is a British senior intelligence officer. He was Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 2004 to 2009. Prior to this appointment, he had chaired the Joint Intelligence Commit ...

(2004–2009) #Sir

(2009–2014) #Sir

Alex Younger Sir Alexander William Younger (born 4 July 1963) is a former career British intelligence officer for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) who served as the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, succeeding Sir John Sawers on his retirement. ...

(2014–2020) # Richard Moore (2020–present)

References

{{reflist, 2

History

List of chiefs

References

See also