Jonathan Douglas Evans, Baron Evans of Weardale, (born 1958) is a British

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

who formerly served as the

Director General A director general or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'' ) or general director is a senior executive (government), executive officer, often the chief executive offi ...

of the British Security Service, the United Kingdom's domestic security and

counter-intelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

service. He took over the role on the retirement of his predecessor Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller on 21 April 2007. Evans was succeeded by Andrew Parker on 22 April 2013.

Early life

Evans was educated at

Sevenoaks School Sevenoaks School is a highly selective coeducational independent school in Sevenoaks, Kent, England. It is the second oldest non-denominational school in the United Kingdom, dating back to 1432, only behind Oswestry (1407). Over 1,000 day pupils ...

and

Bristol University , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

where he read

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

Career at MI5

Evans joined the Security Service in 1980, and initially worked in counter espionage. In 1985 he moved to the protective security function, dealing with internal and personnel security, before switching to domestic

counter-terrorism Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or el ...

in the late 1980s. For more than a decade he was involved with the effort to combat the domestic threat of groups such as the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

during

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

. In 1999, with the violence in Northern Ireland greatly reduced due to the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

, Evans moved to G-Branch, the section of MI5 which deals with international terrorism. There he became an expert on

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

and other branches of

Islamic terrorism Islamic terrorism (also known as Islamist terrorism or radical Islamic terrorism) refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists. Incidents and fatalities f ...

. He rose to head the section in 2001 (only a few days before the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

), a position which put him on the service's board of management. In 2005, he became Deputy Director General before being promoted to head the organisation in 2007. In November 2007, Evans talked publicly about the threat the UK faces from digital espionage. He spoke at RUSI on

National Security National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...

in February 2008. He has a Certificate in Company Direction from the

Institute of Directors The Institute of Directors (IoD) is a British professional organisation for company directors, senior business leaders and entrepreneurs. It is the UK's longest running organisation for professional leaders, having been founded in 1903 and incor ...

. In July 2010, the government revealed Evans received an annual salary of £159,999. In September 2010, Evans said that

Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser al-Awlaki (also spelled al-Aulaqi, al-Awlaqi; ar, أنور العولقي, Anwar al-‘Awlaqī; April 21 or 22, 1971 – September 30, 2011) was an American imam who was killed in 2011 in Yemen by a U.S. government drone stri ...

was the West's Public Enemy No 1. Al-Awlaki was killed by a U.S.

drone strike Drone warfare is a form of aerial warfare using unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) or weaponized commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, France, India, Pakista ...

on 30 September 2011. Evans was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(KCB) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to defence. Evans was succeeded by Andrew Parker on 22 April 2013.

Life peer, fellowships and directorships

After retiring as Director General, Evans joined the Board of

HSBC Holdings HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tril ...

as a Non-Executive Director. He is also a non-executive director of Ark Data Centres, a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and an Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews. From 2014 to 2015 he was a non-executive director of the National Crime Agency. He has written occasionally in the Sunday Times on classic cars. On 21 October 2014, it was announced that he was to become a

Crossbench A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and the Parliament of Australia. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and oppositi ...

life peer, having been nominated personally by the Prime Minister. He was created Baron Evans of Weardale, ''of

Toys Hill Toys Hill is a hamlet which lies within Brasted civil parish in the Sevenoaks district of Kent, England. It lies to the south of Brasted Chart, also in the parish. The hamlet is situated on the steep scarp slope of the Greensand Ridge, a promin ...

in the

County of Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces the ...

'', on 3 December 2014. In January 2015 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Kent. and on 1 November 2018 he was appointed Chair of the

Committee on Standards in Public Life The Committee on Standards in Public Life (CSPL) is an advisory non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom Government, established by John Major in 1994 to advise the Prime Minister on ethical standards of public life. It promotes a code o ...

for a 5-year term. In December 2018, following controversy about his paid business portfolio in light of his appointment to the committee, it was announced that he would step down from his position as a Non-Executive Director with HSBC Holdings in early 2019.

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Jonathan 1958 births Living people Directors General of MI5 Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Alumni of the University of Bristol People educated at Sevenoaks School Crossbench life peers Deputy Lieutenants of Kent Member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life Life peers created by Elizabeth II