David Spedding

Sir David Rolland Spedding (7 March 1943 – 13 June 2001) was Chief of the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) from 1994 to 1999.

Early life David Spedding was the son of a Border Regiment lieutenant colonel, and grew up in the middle class. He was initially educated at Sherborne School, then studied history at Hertford College, Oxford.

Career Spedding joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1967,

In 1971 Spedding was named as the local SIS station commander in Lebanon, and was later posted to Abu Dhabi in 1977. For this he was made Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. During his tenure the SIS faced some degree of negative publicity due to unauthorized disclosures in the wake of Richard Tomlinson's dismissal.

Spedding died of lung cancer on 13 June 2001, aged 58.