Director of GCHQ Jeremy Fleming receives knighthood

Director of GCHQ Jeremy Fleming has been made made Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s 2021 Birthday Honours.

Fleming, who has served as Director of GCHQ since April 2017 has been recognised for his exceptional leadership, in a role where he has overseen the organisation's response to the 2017 terror attacks in the UK, the WannaCry cyber attack, and the use of a nerve agent in Salisbury and Amesbury in 2018. He has also continued GCHQ's work to be as transparent as possible, to explain as much as we can to the wider public without jeopardising our core mission.

His citation reads:

Jeremy Fleming is recognised for his exceptional leadership as Director of GCHQ. This follows a long career in the Security Service (MI5) where he made a significant contribution to the investigation and disruption of the most serious threats to national security, including from international and domestic terrorism. He led MI5’s preparations for the London Olympics and in the Home Office, shaped the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy. Since joining GCHQ, he has overseen its transformation into a cyber organisation with the establishment of the National Cyber Security Centre and in partnership with Defence, creation of the National Cyber Force. Over the past year he has repositioned GCHQ to support the national response to the pandemic. As a result of Jeremy’s leadership, GCHQ is more transparent, outward facing and directly engaged in protecting and advising the public from cyber threats.