Thirty years after Dame Judi Dench first appeared on the silver screen as M, the British foreign intelligence agency MI6 in the James Bond universe , reality has finally caught up with fiction.
Blaise Metreweli will succeed outgoing MI6 chief Richard Moore later this year. The first woman to lead the covert agency in it’s nearly 116 year old history. She is currently leading MI6’s Q section, responsible for technology & innovation.
Much has been written about Dench being cast as M in ‘Golden Eye’ 1995 Bond classic that introduced Pierce Brosnan as the eponymous British spy. Dench’s character was inspired by Stella Rimington, who in 1992 became the first woman to lead a British intelligence agency ( she headed MI5).
‘There is now a woman at the head of the British secret service & this Bond film reflects that – quite rightly, in my view,’ Dench had said in an interview.
Mi5 had Rimington & later Eliza Manningham- Buller as woman chiefs . GCHQ is currently headed by Anne Keast- Butler, it’s first woman leader.
Metreweli will take over with the codename C. As MI5 chief , she will be the agency’s only publicly named officer & directly report to the Foreign Secretary.
After the ‘Iron lady ‘ in India & Britain who stood alone in the man’s world. Sri Lankan Bandarnayake also was a trend setter. Many senators are there but neither Hilary Clinton nor Kamala Harris could make it to the premier position in the US.
Leaders getting a chance & people getting used to the leadership is another thing. The New Zealand Prime minister resigned & could not hold the post for long.
Right from the good old times we find very few & so it is appreciable , noteworthy.
Kudos Lady!
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