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Ken McCallum is the current Director General of MI5. Ken is an MI5 officer with more than 25 years of experience across the full spectrum of our organisation's national security and...
- Biography
- Career
- Personal life
- Director General of the Security Service (MI5)
- Previous roles in government
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
Branch/service. Security Service. Years of service. 1995–present. Rank. Director General of MI5. Kenneth Douglas McCallum (born 1974) is a British intelligence officer who has been serving as the Director General of MI5 since 2020.
Mar 30, 2020 · 30 March 2020. Share. MI5. Ken McCallum has been appointed the new director general of MI5, the security service has said. Mr McCallum led counter terrorism investigations during the London...
Mar 30, 2020 · Ken McCallum has been appointed as successor to Sir Andrew Parker as the head of MI5, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced today. Currently serving as Deputy Director General, Mr McCallum...
Mar 30, 2020 · The Home Secretary has announced that Ken McCallum has been appointed as Director General of MI5
