Jonathan Evans

Jonathan Douglas Evans, Baron Evans of Weardale, (born 17 February 1958) is a British life peer who formerly served as the Director General of the British Security Service, the United Kingdom's domestic security and counter-intelligence service. He took over the role on the retirement of his predecessor Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller on 21 April 2007. Evans was succeeded by Andrew Parker on 22 April 2013. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Crown Nominations Commission.

Early life Evans was born on 17 February 1958, and was brought up in Kent, England.

Career

MI5 Evans joined the Security Service (i.e. MI5) in 1980, and initially worked in counter espionage. In 1985 he moved to the protective security function, dealing with internal and personnel security, before switching to domestic counter-terrorism in the late 1980s. the section of MI5 which deals with international terrorism. There he became an expert on al-Qaeda and other branches of Islamic terrorism. He rose to head the section in 2001 (only a few days before the September 11, 2001 attacks), a position which put him on the service's board of management. In 2005, he became Deputy Director General.

In March 2007, he was announced as the next Director General of MI5, in succession to Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller. In November 2007, he talked publicly about the threat the UK faces from digital espionage. He spoke at RUSI on National Security in February 2008. He has a Certificate in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors. In July 2010, the government revealed Evans received an annual salary of £159,999. In September 2010, Evans said that the American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki was the West's Public Enemy No 1. Al-Awlaki was killed by a U.S. drone strike on 30 September 2011.

Evans was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to defence, and was thereby granted the title Sir. He retired from MI5 in 2013 and was succeeded as director general by Andrew Parker on 22 April 2013.

House of Lords On 21 October 2014, it was announced that he was to become a life peer, having been nominated personally by the Prime Minister "for public service". He was created Baron Evans of Weardale, of Toys Hill in the County of Kent, on 3 December 2014, and sits in the House of Lords as a crossbench peer. On 13 January 2015, he made his maiden speech in the Lords during a debate on the Counter-Terrorism and Security Bill. On 1 November 2018 he was appointed Chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life for a 5-year term.

Post-MI5 career After retiring as Director General, Evans joined the Board of HSBC Holdings as a Non-Executive Director. He is also a non-executive director of Ark Data Centres, a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and an Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews. From 2014 to 2015 he was a non-executive director of the National Crime Agency. He has written occasionally in the Sunday Times on classic cars. In November 2023, The HALO Trust announced him as the new Chair of their Board of Trustees.

In January 2015, he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant (DL) to the Lord Lieutenant of Kent.

On 16 December 2024, he was announced as the chair of the Crown Nominations Commission to select the next Archbishop of Canterbury, following the resignation of Justin Welby. The chair is required to be a "communicant lay [i.e. not ordained] member of the Church of England".

Personal life Evans is a Christian. He was raised as a Baptist and attended the Christian Union while at university. As of 2024, he is a member of the Church of England.