GCHQ spy agency appoints first female director

Anne Keast-Butler, currently the deputy director general of MI5, is described as ‘exceptional’

Anne Keast-Butler will become the first female boss of GCHQ when the current director steps down next month (GCHQ/PA)

Britain’s cyber spy agency has appointed a female director for the first time in its more than 100-year history.

Anne Keast-Butler has been appointed to succeed Sir Jeremy Fleming as head of Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), foreign secretary James Cleverly has announced.

Ms Keast-Butler, currently MI5’s deputy director general, will take up the role in May when Sir Jeremy leaves after six years. She said she is “delighted” to be appointed and “can’t wait to get started”, adding that GCHQ’s mission is “as inspiring today as it was when it was founded”.