Alex Younger

Alex Younger CMG
Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2014
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May
Preceded by	Sir John Sawers
Personal details
Born	(1963-07-04) 4 July 1963
Occupation	Intelligence officer

Alexander William Younger CMG (born 4 July 1963) is a career British intelligence officer for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) who, from November 2014 has served as the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service,^[1][2] succeeding Sir John Sawers on his retirement.^[3]

Early life

Younger was born on 4 July 1963.^[4] He was educated at Marlborough College and graduated from university with a degree in economics.^[1]

Career

Military service

Younger was sponsored by the British Army through university. He was commissioned into the Royal Scots on 5 September 1986 as a second lieutenant (on probation).^[5] As a University Candidate he was a full-time student at university and trained in his spare time. On 10 December 1986, he transferred to the Scots Guards.^[6][7]

On 16 June 1987, his commission was confirmed and dated to 5 September 1986: this signified the start of his full-time military service. He was granted seniority in the rank of second lieutenant from 9 April 1983. He was promoted to lieutenant, which was back dated to 5 September 1986, and was granted seniority from 9 April 1985.^[8] He was promoted to captain on 5 April 1989^[9] and transferred to the Regular Army Reserve of Officers on 10 April 1990.^[10]

Intelligence work

Younger joined SIS in 1991.^[2] After serving in the Middle East and Afghanistan, he became head of counter-intelligence in 2009, in which role he was involved in security for the London Olympics 2012, and then became Deputy Director in 2012 before being nominated as Chief in October 2014.^[11]

In a leaked list of 160 MI6 agents - which was originally believed to have been released by Richard Tomlinson, although government officials subsequently "acknowledged that the list did not come from Mr Tomlinson" - Alex Younger is mentioned as having been posted to Vienna in 1995.^[12]

As of 2015, Younger was paid a salary of between £160,000 and £164,999 by SIS, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time.^[13]

References

1. 1 2 "Appointment of the new Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)". GOV.UK. Press releases. Her Majesty's Government. 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2014-10-03. 
2. 1 2 "MI6 officer Alex Younger named as new SIS chief". BBC News. BBC. 2014-10-03. Retrieved 2014-10-03. 
3. ↑ Ewen Macaskill and Richard Norton-Taylor (26 June 2014). "MI6 chief Sir John Sawers to step down". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2014. 
4. ↑ ‘YOUNGER, Alexander William’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014
5. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50733. p. 15534. 1 December 1986. Retrieved 03 October 2014.
6. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50813. p. 1079. 26 January 1987. Retrieved 03 October 2014.
7. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50907. p. 5856. 1 May 1987. Retrieved 03 October 2014.
8. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 50965. p. 7669. 15 June 1987. Retrieved 03 October 2014.
9. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51696. p. 4292. 10 April 1989. Retrieved 03 October 2014.
10. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 52138. p. 9158. 15 May 1990. Retrieved 03 October 2014.
11. ↑ "Moderniser who kept Britain safe takes on ISIS as new M". The Times. 4 October 2014. 
12. ↑ "Outcast: the spy who wants to spill the beans". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 April 2015. 
13. ↑ "Senior officials 'high earners' salaries as at 30 September 2015 - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-03-11.