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Sir Jeremy Fleming

Sir Jeremy Fleming was the Director of GCHQ between April 2017 and May 2023
GCHQ Director Jeremy Fleming

Sir Jeremy Fleming was the Director of GCHQ between 2017 and 2023, and the 16th person to hold the role.

After an early career in the financial sector, Jeremy joined MI5 in 1993. He gained extensive operational, investigative and leadership experience across the full range of national security work. He helped shape MI5’s response to the London terrorist attacks in 2005, led the revision and publication of the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, and was promoted to Assistant Director General to lead MI5’s preparations for the London 2012 Olympics. He then spent four years as Deputy Director General with responsibility for all investigations and operations.

Joining GCHQ in 2017, Jeremy has overseen the creation of the National Cyber Security Centre with a mission to make the UK the safest place to live and do business online. It has become a world leader in bringing together Government, industry and international partners to address cyber threats and inform the public. Jeremy has led a significant period of growth in the Agency, with the development of a strategic base in Manchester and a focus on diversity and inclusion. In 2019 he led GCHQ’s centenary celebrations with the publication of a landmark official history. And in 2020, a new partnership with the MoD was announced to create a National Cyber Force charged with delivering cyber operations.

Jeremy was made a Companion of the Order of Bath in 2016 and Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 2021 for services to national security. He is also Honorary Colonel of JSSO(V). He holds a degree in Economic and Social History from the University of Bristol and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and of the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

In November 2021, Jeremy received an Honorary Doctorate of Science by the University of Gloucestershire in recognition of his distinguished career and the important social and economic contribution that GCHQ makes to Gloucestershire. Jeremy completed his tenure in May 2023, and was succeeded by Anne Keast-Butler.