Anne Keast-Butler is the Director of GCHQ, the UK's Intelligence, Cyber and Security Agency. Appointed in May 2023,[1][2][3] she is the seventeenth person to hold the role and succeeded Sir Jeremy Fleming.[1]
Career
editKeast-Butler joined GCHQ from MI5, where she was Deputy Director General, responsible for MI5's operational, investigative and protective security work. This has included MI5's – and the allies' – preparation for and response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.[2]
In her previous Director General role, Keast-Butler was Director General Strategy, leading the enabling functions that support MI5’s operational activities.[1]
Prior to this, Keast-Butler spent two years on secondment to GCHQ as Head of Counter Terrorism and Serious Organised Crime and has also spent part of the last decade on secondment in Whitehall.[2] Whilst there, she helped to launch the National Cyber Security Programme.[3]
Personal life
editKeast-Butler grew up in Cambridge. Her father was a consultant ophthalmologist with academic roles at the University of Cambridge.[4] She earned a degree in mathematics from Merton College, Oxford.[2]
She is married, with three children.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b c "New Director GCHQ announced". www.gchq.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-04-11.
- ^ a b c d e Quinn, Ben (11 April 2023). "Anne Keast-Butler to become first female director of GCHQ". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ a b "Anne Keast-Butler to be first female director at GCHQ". BBC News. 11 April 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
- ^ Downing, John (2023-04-13). "Cambridge woman Anne Keast-Butler to be first female director at GCHQ". Cambridge Independent. Retrieved 2023-11-03.