Stella Rimington
Search results
Kenneth Douglas McCallum (born 1974) is a British intelligence officer who has been serving as the Director General of MI5 since 2020.
- Biography
- Career
- Personal life
- Director General of the Security Service (MI5)
- Previous roles in government
- GeneratedCaptionsTabForHeroSec
Ken McCallum is the Director General of the Security Service (known as MI5). He is an MI5 officer with experience across the full spectrum of the organisation’s national security and intelligence work.
Ken was appointed Deputy Director General of MI5 in April 2017, with responsibility for all of MI5’s operational and investigative work. In 2018 this role saw him take charge of the MI5 response to the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal.
Between 2015 and 2017 Ken held the role of Director General Strategy, focussing on shaping new legislation and further strengthening MI5’s partnerships with SIS and GCHQ.
In 2012, Ken took charge of all counter terrorism investigations and risk management in the run-up to, and during, the London Olympics. After the Games, he undertook a secondment to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (now BEIS) leading on digital issues, building his experience beyond the national security domain. Following his return to MI5 he retained links to the wider public sector, serving for three years as a Non-Executive Director on the board of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
The first ten years of Ken’s career were focussed on Northern Ireland-related terrorism. Senior operational roles in countering Islamist extremist terrorism followed, and a period leading on cyber security, where he expanded MI5 engagement with the private sector.
Ken grew up in Glasgow and holds a degree in Mathematics from Glasgow University. His out-of-work life is dominated by trying to be an active father. When work/parenting allows, he enjoys hiking in mountains.
The Director General leads the Security Service (known as MI5) and is responsible for:
•the operations and efficiency of MI5
•producing an annual report to the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister on the work of MI5
The Director General is also responsible for making sure that MI5:
•is politically impartial
•gets hold of and releases information only in accordance with statutory responsibilities and to prevent or detect serious crime
•Non-executive Director
•Director, Information Economy Unit, Shareholder Executive
Ken McCallum is the head of the Security Service (MI5) in the UK, responsible for national security and intelligence. He has experience in counter terrorism, cyber security, and legislation, and grew up in Glasgow.
Ken McCallum is the current and only publicly disclosed Director General of MI5, the UK's security service. He has over 25 years of experience in national security and intelligence, and has led MI5's response to various terrorist attacks and threats.
Mar 30, 2020 · Ken McCallum, who led counter terrorism investigations during the London 2012 Olympics and the Skripal case response, will take over from Sir Andrew Parker in April. He has worked at MI5 for nearly 25 years and has experience in Northern Ireland, Islamist extremism and cyber-security.
Oct 18, 2023 · Ken McCallum was speaking to the BBC at an unprecedented public appearance of the security chiefs of the Five Eyes alliance in California. The heads of US, UK, Australian, Canadian and New...
Nov 16, 2022 · Ken McCallum outlines the challenges posed by Russia, China, Iran and other terrorist groups to the UK's security and democracy. He explains how MI5 is responding and adapting to the changing landscape of covert threats.
Mar 30, 2020 · The British government has appointed Ken McCallum, a career spy who led the response to the Salisbury poison attack against former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, as the new director-general...
