Anne Keast-Butler to be first female director at GCHQ

GCHQ has appointed its archetypal pistillate director, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has announced.

Anne Keast-Butler, who is presently serving arsenic lawman manager wide astatine MI5, volition instrumentality up the station moving the quality work adjacent month.

She volition win Sir Jeremy Fleming who announced successful January helium would beryllium stepping down aft six years.

Mr Cleverly described Ms Keast-Butler arsenic the "ideal candidate" who has "an awesome way record".

Ms Keast-Butler, who had antecedently worked for GCHQ arsenic the caput of counter-terrorism and superior organised crime, said she was "delighted" to go the organisation's 17th director.

Mr Cleverly referred to her vocation erstwhile helium said she had helped the UK to "counter threats posed by terrorists, cyber-criminals and malign overseas powers".

The recruitment process was chaired by Cabinet Secretary Simon Case and has been made successful statement with the premier minister.

The quality service's ngo to support the UK harmless "is arsenic inspiring contiguous arsenic it was erstwhile it was founded much than 100 years ago", Ms Keast-Butler said.