Ken McCallum

Kenneth Douglas McCallum (born 1974) is a British intelligence officer who has been serving as the Director General of MI5 since 2020.

McCallum was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1974.

He attended a state school, after which he studied mathematics at the University of Glasgow, graduating with a first-class honours degree in 1996.

McCallum has been an intelligence officer at MI5 for over two decades, including service focused on Northern Ireland-related terrorism and leading counter-terrorism investigations during the London 2012 Olympic Games.

He was appointed Deputy Director General of MI5 in April 2017.

In 2018, McCallum took charge of the MI5 response to the attempted assassination of Sergei Skripal.

He succeeded Sir Andrew Parker as Director General of MI5 in April 2020.

In 2021, McCallum said in his annual threat update that the activities of China, Russia, and other hostile states could have as large an impact on the public as terrorism, marking a significant shift in emphasis for the UK’s domestic spy agency.

McCallum said that the British public will have to “build the same public awareness and resilience to state threats that we have done over the years on terrorism”.

At a joint press conference with Christopher A. Wray in July 2022, McCallum said that MI5 had "more than doubled" its effort against Chinese activity over the same timeframe as part of an unprecedented joint warning with his counterpart at the FBI.

He added the "most game-changing challenge" MI5 faced came from an "increasingly authoritarian Chinese Communist party".

In November 2022, McCallum said there had been at least 10 potential threats by Iran to kidnap or kill British or UK-based people in 2022.

McCallum also warned that the UK "must be ready for Russian aggression for years to come".

In 2023 he noted the increased risks to the UK during the Israel-Gaza war.

"One of the things that concerns me most right now, is to understand quite what the shape of the UK impact will be," McCallum said in an interview.

He also warned there was a risk that events in the Middle East could radicalise people towards violence.