Eliza Manningham-Buller

Starting as a teacher at Queen’s Gate School, Kensington from 1971 to 1974, Elizabeth taught English before joining the Secret Service. Whilst at a dinner party, she was recruited to specialise in counter-terrorism, a role that saw her take an active role at the time of the Lockerbie bombing by Libya, in 1988. Reports state that during the early 1980s, she was one of only five people to know of Soviet double agent, Oleg Gordievsky.

During the first Gulf War, Elizabeth was working as a senior liaison officer in Washington, D.C. to the US Intelligence Community. In the following year, she was promoted to the Management Board of the Security Service, in which she was in charge of surveillance and technical operations. Regularly working with undercover spies and double agents, Elizabeth was the second woman to take the role of Deputy Director General in 1997.

During her retirement, Elizabeth was honoured with a number of awards in response to her dedicated political career. In 2005, at the Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath. She retired two years later, in 2007, commencing her 33rd year in the Secret Service. In the following year, 2008, Elizabeth was “raised to the peerage”, being titled as Baroness Manningham-Buller. In 2014, on St George’s Day, she was appointed a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter by Queen Elizabeth II.

Taking the speaking circuit by storm, Elizabeth is a highly sought after expert on current affairs and remaining calm during conflict. As a political speaker, she shares her strategies on negotiating, communicating, persevering, leaning upon her experience of global politics and leading the British Intelligence.