Former Directors General

Between 1909, when the MI5 was founded (as the Secret Service Bureau) and the present day, there have been 17 Directors General (simply called “Directors” until 1941). Until 1993, the Prime Minister appointed them in secret, and their names and roles were not disclosed to the general public.

The first Director General to be publicly named was Dame Stella Rimington, although the names of several previous DGs had become public knowledge before then. 

Since 1993, it has been MI5's policy to name its Directors General. Ken McCallum is the current Director General. In recent years, our Directors General have tended to serve for 5-7 years.

Speeches by former Directors General

Sir Andrew Parker

• MI5 issues apology to LGBT community for historical treatment
• Director General talks technology with the Financial Times
• MI5 and police issue joint message on terrorism
• Director General speech to BFV Symposium
• Director General Andrew Parker - 2017 speech
• Royal Society Conference 2016 - keynote address
• MI5 and the value of diversity
• A modern MI5
• MI5 today and our challenges tomorrow
• Director General remembers 7/7 attacks
• Director General speaks on terrorism, technology and oversight
• The enduring terrorist threat and accelerating technological change

Jonathan Evans

• The Olympics and beyond
• The threat to national security
• Defending the realm
• Intelligence, counter-terrorism and trust

Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller

• The international terrorist threat to the UK
• The international terrorist threat and the dilemmas in countering it
• Broadening the security agenda
• Global terrorism: are we meeting the challenge?
• Countering terrorism: an international blueprint

Sir Stephen Lander

• British intelligence in the 21st century

Dame Stella Rimington 

• Intelligence, security and the law
• Security and democracy: is there a conflict?