Female spies earn less than males at UK intelligence services

02 September 2023 , 18:02

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For Your Rise Only: Male spies are Moonraking it in, according to the report (Image: Danjaq/Eon Productions/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock)

Female spies are gunning for James Bond as they fight to close the unfair pay gap with male spooks.

A report found men are Moonraking it in as they out-earn female counterparts at MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. That is despite women having some of the most vital frontline roles – in contrast to stereotyped secretary Miss Moneypenny in the 007 films.

The findings are embarrassing for intelligence chiefs trying to recruit more females. In MI5, women now make up 47% of staff but earn 16% less than men. Figures for 2022-23 show women working for foreign intelligence unit MI6 saw the gender pay gap hike from 6.9% to 7.3%, year on year. And at GCHQ it increased from 10.4% to 11%. Like MI6, around a third of workers in the elite cyber-­security unit are women.

Former Army intelligence officer Colonel Phil Ingram said: “There shouldn’t be any pay gap between genders in any employment, never mind with government agencies. I am shocked the agencies admit there still is and can’t understand how this couldn’t be rectified immediately.”

More than half of MI5's new entrants are women - like Miss Moneypenny - yet they are still paid less than their male counterparts (Publicity Picture)

Women have been promoted into top jobs within the intelligence community. This year, Anne Keast-Butler became GCHQ’s first director general after serving as the deputy head of MI5. MI5 has also had two female chiefs but a woman has yet to be appointed as C – the codename for the head of MI6. While chiefs earn up to £170,000 a year, many junior staff get around £30,000.

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MI5, MI6 and GCHQ all admitted there was “work to do” on the gender pay gap and opportunities for women. Ken McCallum, head of MI5, said: “We increased representation of women towards the top of our organisation. Nearly 54% of new joiners to MI5 in the 2021/22 financial year were women. But we know there is more to do.”

Katharine Hammond, GCHQ’s Director General for Strategy, said in its annual report “a sustainable plan” is needed to tackle the gender pay gap. And MI6 head Sir Richard Moore said: “I am acutely aware there is still under-representation of women in our Science Technology Engineering and Maths teams, and we are taking action.”

John Siddle