Profile

Current Director-General of Technology and Innovation, Blaise Metreweli, was recently appointed as the new chief of the UK’s Secret Intelligence Service, MI6. She’s the first woman to assume the role. She attended Westminster School, where she got a glimpse of leadership in her role as head girl. In 1995, she went on to study Anthropology at Cambridge University. Beyond the lecture halls, Blaise M...

Actress and disability campaigner, Liz Carr, is probably best known for her role as forensic examiner, Clarissa Mullery, in the TV crime drama, Silent Witness. She’s also done comedy, theatre and even written a musical, about what she calls ‘assisted suicide’. Last year she fronted the award-winning BBC TV documentary, Better Off Dead, making the case against assisted dying. Born and raised in Mer...

Donald Trump calls Susie Wiles the “ice maiden” for her ability to stay cool under pressure. It’s an invaluable skill in her role as White House Chief of Staff - responsible for who has access to the President. Aged 68, Susie Wiles has spent more than 40 years in Republican politics – steering powerful men to elected office. She’s worked for US presidents, governors, mayors and Congress members. B...

Tom Fletcher heads the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and has been at the forefront of recent efforts to deliver aid into Gaza. Last week, he was criticised for making inaccurate claims about the impact of the Israeli blockade. No stranger to tough jobs, he was previously a foreign policy advisor to three British Prime Ministers and the UK Ambassador to Lebanon as...

In April 2024 Rosemary Coogan became only the third person from the UK to qualify as an astronaut after completing basic training with the European Space Agency (ESA). Originally from Northern Ireland, she excelled academically and holds two master's degrees from Durham University and a PhD in astronomy from the University of Sussex. She became an ESA astronaut after a challenging selection proces...

Earlier this month the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also made President Trump's National Security Advisor. The last person to undertake both roles simultaneously was Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. The son of Cuban immigrants, Mr Rubio has had a turbo-charged career; rising from junior positions in his home city of Miami, to the US Senate which he reached before he turned 40 and now a Cabin...

Reform UK triumphed in May’s local elections, winning many more council seats up for grabs than the other major parties. Behind the scenes, the party has gone through major changes. Millionaire businessman and donor Zia Yusuf was appointed chairman last summer, and has been credited with professionalising the party. The son of Sri Lankan immigrants, he made his money co-founding a luxury concierge...

President Trump shocked the world earlier this year when he announced plans to impose tariffs affecting nearly all goods entering America. But rather than coming as a surprise, the US President had made the policy one of the key cornerstones of his re-election campaign. He'd also implemented some tariffs during his first term in office too. Despite strong opposition to the move, President Trump en...

Canadians are gearing up to vote in a snap General Election. It's been called by Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, who in recent months replaced Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party. Carney is hoping to receive a fresh mandate from the public, and face down US President Donald Trump, whose rhetoric towards America's neighbour in the north has become incr...

Beloved Britpop band Pulp have released their first new music in almost a quarter of a century, the single 'Spike Island'. Their talismanic frontman Jarvis Cocker has always been the band's star turn, with his second-hand 70s style, mesmeric stage presence and biting lyrics. Following some difficult early years in his hometown of Sheffield, Cocker formed the band in 1978, but had to wait over a de...

Stephen Smith profiles the actor Lesley Manville, winner of a second Olivier theatre award. From growing up in Hove to her long-time collaboration with film-maker Mike Leigh, Manville has a reputation as the complete professional. With contributions from Mike Leigh, Director Rob Icke, Actor Tim McCullan, former teacher Julia Clarey, Observer critic Susannah Clapp and friend Rebecca Blond. Presente...

Steve Witkoff started out as a New York lawyer, until a late night encounter with Donald Trump in a sandwich shop inspired him to move into real estate. Known as "Smoking Steve", he has amassed a property empire worth millions, become friends and golf buddies with Trump, and has now been appointed as his Middle East Envoy and go-to international negotiator and trouble shooter. To his critics he's...

Jack Thorne is co-author of Netflix drama Adolescence. But this is far from his first rodeo, over a 20 year career, his writing has appeared in many iconic British dramas, from Shameless and This is England '86 to His Dark Materials. He started out as a playwright and hasn't lost his love for theatre, having written West End box office hit, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Jack is known in the i...

Jonathan Powell, the UK’s National Security Adviser, is used to operating behind the scenes: he’s spent decades working as a diplomat, negotiator and mediator. Recent events in the US and Ukraine have thrust him into the spotlight. After the fiery Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, Powell has been credited with advising Ukraine and ensuring that lines of communicat...

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has one the toughest tasks in Labour’s domestic programme: tackling the burgeoning welfare bill. Next week, the government is expected to announce reforms to the welfare system. There is unease over the plans within the party, with some Labour MPs saying they fear drastic cuts could push vulnerable people into poverty. The move could split the party and put...

As the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas is the bloc's top diplomat. So when EU leaders gathered in Brussels this week to thrash out a new defence plan for Ukraine, Kallas was in the thick of things. Before taking up the EU role she was Prime Minister of Estonia, the nation's first female leader. She was born in 1977 in the Estonian capital Tallinn, then part of the Soviet Union,...

He’s the former corporate lawyer, who has a pilot's licence and loves music, but has never before been a government minister. Friedrich Merz was born in the west German town of Brilon in 1955 into a prominent conservative, Catholic family. He joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) while still at school, before going on to study law. Merz then worked as a lawyer and judge for a few years, but...

His 14 year-stint at the top of European politics has earned him a distinguished record of domestic and international achievements. Mark Rutte, born in The Hague in 1967, embarked on a career in business after leaving university and held several positions at Unilever. His career in Dutch politics started in 2002, and four years later – as leader of the VVD party – he became prime minister. During...

Having helped mastermind Labour's renewal in the 1980s and 1990s, one of British politics best-known figures has just embarked on his latest role. And, it's a long way from Hartlepool, in the post-industrial North-East of England, where he first became an MP. Born in 1953, Peter Mandelson started on the road to party politics as a researcher at the Trades Union Congress. After a stint as a TV prod...

Despite just winning a seventh consecutive presidential term, a look at Alexander Lukashenko’s early life reveals rather humbler origins. Brought up by a single mother in a poor village in eastern Belarus, he first made his mark as the manager of a farm in the late 1980s. After moving into politics at the end of that decade, he quickly established his reputation as a man with authoritarian instinc...

A mathematician and cyber defence expert, Poppy Gustafsson has been handed an integral role within government, as the prime minister attempts to grow the economy and attract international investment. She was born in 1982, to parents John and Gilly. Her father ran an agricultural sales business, while her mother was a journalist. In her early career, Poppy Gustafsson worked for a venture capital fi...

She is the renowned scientist who studied environmental engineering, and went on to hold the role of mayor of Mexico City during the Coronavirus pandemic. Late last year, Claudia Sheinbaum made further history. "For the first time in the 200 years of the [Mexican] Republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico," she said before taking office. Born in 1962, Claudia Sheinbaum’s father w...

He's been described as the best connected man in the business world. Allan Leighton’s the arch-moderniser who's led some of the UK's most well-known companies. His career started at Mars Confectionery in the mid-70s, working his way up through the business over nearly two decades. But, it was in the 90s that Allan Leighton really made his name. He moved to Asda in 1992, becoming Chief Executive fo...

He’s been described by his new bosses at the Football Association as, "one of the best coaches in the world". Thomas Tuchel has also earned a reputation as a “control freak”, with “charming” yet “divisive” attributes. Born in Krumbach, Bavaria in 1973 his football journey began as a youngster when his father coached him at his local club. After growing into a promising defender, a knee injury brou...

Oh! What’s occurrin'? Good question… This week’s Profile, with Stephen Smith, is focusing in on a woman born in Bridgend in south Wales, who loved to participate in musical theatre as a child – and went on to create one of Britain’s best-loved sitcoms. With a degree in drama under her belt from the University of Warwick, Ruth Jones initially found work at BBC Wales in both TV and radio comedy. She...