Sir Alex Younger obituary

Popular head of the Secret Intelligence Service, MI6, who widened out the recruitment process

Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service, who has died from pancreatic cancer aged 62, was one of the most engaging and indeed open British spymasters in the service’s 116-year history.

As head of the service, which spies on and attempts to combat foreign subversion, from 2014 to 2020, he did not entirely keep to the omertà that characterised many of his predecessors, though he did not compromise security. His gift for colourful phrases was evident in his last BBC interview, at the start of the Iran war in February; speaking of the regime following the replacement of its leadership he said: “The threat of 88 mullahs on Zoom is one that is difficult to comprehend.”