In a first, Britain's M16 secret service to be headed by a woman: Report

The current MI6 chief, Alex Younger, is understood to have himself singled out the female spymaster

The head of Britain's MI6 secret service - superspy James Bond's boss - is expected to be a woman for the first time in real life in the agency's 109-year history.

The top job, depicted as ‘M’ in the Bond films where she was portrayed by actress Judi Dench, is likely to go to a female frontrunner as part of the succession planning process at the UK's foreign intelligence agency, ‘The Sunday Times' reported.

The woman, who cannot be named for security reasons, has run agent networks around the world and has proved her “strong operational capabilities” on overseas postings over many