Spy agency MI6 set to appointment first female boss branded ‘sympathetic to China’ by critics

Editorial use only Mandatory Credit: Photo by Europa Newswire/Shutterstock (12120169f) Barbara Woodward, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations, Press conference on the situation in Myanmar Today at the UN Headquarters in New York City. Barbara Woodward press conference, New York, USA – 18 Jun 2021Rex

A WOMAN is set to take charge of MI6 for the first time in the Secret Intelligence Service’s history.

Interviews took place last week and the final three candidates were all women, The Sunday Times reports.

However, the appointment is controversial because critics say the runaway favourite for the job is too sympathetic to China.

Dame Barbara Woodward, 63, ambassador to the UN, is the Foreign Office’s most senior woman.

She was dubbed “Beijing Barbara” in Whitehall because she was reluctant to speak out about the Chinese regime as ambassador in Beijing between 2015 and 2020.

Ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: “Any ambivalence towards the threat China poses will end in disaster for the UK.”

Current MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore is due to stand down in the autumn after five years in charge.

MI6 has had 17 male bosses, each of whom has been referred to as “C”.

Ian Fleming renamed the spy chief “M” for his Bond books.

The other two finalists have not yet been named.

The winner will be decided by the PM.

Downing Street declined to comment.