Kenneth Douglas McCallum is a British
intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile or analyze information (known as intelligence) which is of use to that organization. The word of ''officer'' is a working title, not a rank, used in the same way a ...
who has been serving as the
Director General of MI5 __NOTOC__
The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gener ...
since 2020.
Early life and education
McCallum was born in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
in 1974. He attended a state school, after which he read
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
at
Glasgow University
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
graduating with a first-class honours degree in 1996.
Professional life
McCallum has been an intelligence officer at MI5 for over two decades, including service focused on
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
-related
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
, and leading
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 ...
investigations during the
London 2012 Olympic Games
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
.
[ He was appointed Deputy Director General of MI5 in April 2017.][
In 2018, McCallum took charge of the MI5 response to the attempted assassination of ]Sergei Skripal
Sergei Viktorovich Skripal ( rus, Серге́й Ви́кторович Скрипáль, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ skrʲɪˈpalʲ; born 23 June 1951) is a former Russian military intelligence officer who acted as a double agent f ...
.
He succeeded Sir Andrew Parker as Director General of MI5 __NOTOC__
The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gener ...
in April 2020.
In 2021, McCallum said in his annual threat update that the activities of China, Russia and other hostile states could have as large an impact on the public as terrorism, marking a significant shift in emphasis from the UK’s domestic spy agency. McCallum said that the British public will have to “build the same public awareness and resilience to state threats that we have done over the years on terrorism”.
At a joint press conference with Christopher A. Wray
Christopher Asher Wray (born December 17, 1966) is an American attorney who is the eighth Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, serving since 2017. From 2003 to 2005, Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Crimina ...
in July 2022, McCallum said that MI5 had "more than doubled" its effort against Chinese activity over the same timeframe, as part of an unprecedented joint warning with his counterpart at the FBI. He added the "most gamechanging challenge" MI5 faced came from an "increasingly authoritarian Chinese Communist party".
In November 2022, McCallum said there have been at least 10 potential threats by Iran to kidnap or kill British or UK-based people in 2022. McCallum also warned the UK "must be ready for Russian aggression for years to come".
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCallum, Ken
Living people
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Directors General of MI5
Civil servants from Glasgow
1974 births