Elizabeth Lydia Manningham-Buller, Baroness Manningham-Buller (born 14 July 1948) is a retired British intelligence officer. She worked as a teacher for three years before joining MI5, the British internal Security Service. She led the newly created Irish counter-terrorism section from 1992 and then became director in charge of surveillance and technical operations. She became Director General of MI5 in October 2002 and, in that capacity, led the Security Service's response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Following her retirement in April 2007, she became a crossbench life peer in 2008.
She became chair of the Conduct Committee, which is a select committee of the House of Lords, on 19 January 2022. As of 2020, she is listed as #86 in Forbes list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. She was appointed Chancellor of the Order of the Garter by King Charles III in June 2024.
Professional life Manningham-Buller worked as a teacher for three years at Queen's Gate School, Kensington, London from 1971 to 1974, having read English at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, before joining the Security Service. She was recruited to the Security Service at a drinks party when someone suggested that she see someone at the Ministry of Defence. Specializing in counter-terrorism rather than MI5's then-classical counter-espionage, she was active at the time of the Lockerbie bombing by Libya in 1988. During the early 1980s she was reportedly one of only five people aware that Oleg Gordievsky, the deputy head of the KGB rezidentura at the Soviet embassy in London, was a double agent. She was one of the few people who knew that it was Gordievsky who had exposed Michael Bettaney.
She was a senior liaison officer working out of Washington, D.C. to the US intelligence community over the period of the first Gulf War, before leading the newly created Irish counter-terrorism section from 1992 when MI5 were given the lead responsibility for such work (from the Metropolitan Police). Having been promoted to the management board of the Security Service the next year, Manningham-Buller became the director in charge of surveillance and technical operations. She was appointed Deputy Director General in 1997, and succeeded Sir Stephen Lander as Director General in 2002, the second woman to take on the role after Dame Stella Rimington.
In the 2005 Birthday Honours, Manningham-Buller was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the Bath (DCB). She resigned from MI5 on 21 April 2007, and was succeeded by her deputy, Jonathan Evans. She was raised to the peerage as Baroness Manningham-Buller, of Northampton in the County of Northamptonshire on 2 June 2008.
She reportedly joined the public speaking circuit. She was appointed to the Court and Council of Imperial College London in 2009, becoming deputy chairman later that year, and named chairman in July 2011. She became a governor of biomedical research charity the Wellcome Trust in 2008 and the first female chair of the Trust on 1 October 2015. She left the Wellcome Trust in 2021, being replaced as chair by Julia Gillard on 12 April 2021. From 2015 to 2025, she was co-president of Chatham House.
On St George's Day (23 April), 2014, Manningham-Buller was appointed a Lady Companion of the Order of the Garter (LG) by Queen Elizabeth II.
She became chair of the Conduct Committee on 19 January 2022. She took part in the Royal Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla, carrying St Edward's Staff.
Honours Manningham-Buller has received honorary degrees from: Cranfield University (2004) University of St Andrews – Doctor of Laws (2010) Open University – Doctor of the University (2005) University of Oxford – Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (2012) University of Leeds – Honorary Doctorate of Laws (2012) University of Buckingham – Doctor of Letters (2016) University of Dundee – Doctor of Laws (2017) University of London – Doctor of Laws, honoris causa (2019)
She has also been awarded honorary fellowships by: Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (2004) University of Northampton (2008) Cardiff University (2010) Academy of Medical Sciences (2017) The Royal Society (2025) City and Guilds of London Institute
Personal life Manningham-Buller was the second daughter in a family of four, born to Reginald Manningham-Buller, 1st Viscount Dilhorne, and his wife, the former Lady Mary Lindsay. Manningham-Buller's father, Lord Dilhorne (1905–1980), was a Conservative MP from 1943 to 1962. He was Britain's second highest legal officer, the Solicitor General, and then became Britain's highest legal officer, the Attorney General. He later held the office of Lord Chancellor for two years. He was created an hereditary peer with the title Viscount Dilhorne. Her mother, Lady Dilhorne, trained carrier pigeons that were used to fly coded messages in World War II. The pigeons were dropped in wicker baskets with little parachutes over France and Germany and they were used to fly back to her mother's pigeon loft carrying intelligence. One of the pigeons won the Dickin Medal, and one brought back intelligence of the V-2 rocket project in Peenemünde, Germany. Lady Dilhorne died in Oxfordshire on 25 March 2004, aged 93.
Manningham-Buller was educated at Northampton High School and Benenden School.
On 15 July 1991, she married David John Mallock and has five stepchildren by her husband's prior marriage. Her husband died in 2021.Eliza Manningham-Buller: Life in the shadows, BBC News; accessed 30 May 2014.The Times, 18 July 1991
Public statements
Backing the war on terror Manningham-Buller has made speeches to invited audiences containing members of the press, as well as making court statements. On 17 June 2003, at a conference at the Royal United Services Institute she gave her backing to increasing the resources devoted to countering the threat from international terrorism and said that renegade scientists had given terror groups information needed to create chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. She also warned that the threat from international terrorism would be "with us for a good long time", which was why new legislation had been introduced.
Meeting with Labour Party MPs on 6 July 2005
On the morning of 6 July 2005, less than 24 hours before the 7/7 bombings, Manningham-Buller assured Labour Party MPs that there was "no imminent terrorist threat to London or the rest of the country".Ian Cobain et al, 'MI5 told MPs on eve of 7/7: no imminent terror threat'. The Guardian, 9 January 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2025
Speech on 7 July 2005 London bombings On 10 September 2005, she spoke to an audience in the Netherlands about the 7 July 2005 London bombings and her disappointment that MI5 failed to stop attacks. She added: "[the] world has changed and there needs to be a debate on whether some erosion of [the] civil liberties we all value may be necessary to improve the chances of our citizens not being blown apart as they go about their daily lives".
Stance on gaining intelligence through torture On 21 October 2005, BBC News reported Manningham-Buller's leaked court statement to the Law Lords regarding methods for collecting intelligence from overseas. This was part of an investigation by the Law Lords on whether Her Majesty's Government should have to be made aware whether the intelligence it is using was obtained through torture. "Experience proves that detainee reporting can be accurate and may enable lives to be saved", she stated, also maintaining that obtaining information from foreign intelligence agencies, which initially enters the British intelligence system via MI6, was vital in fighting terrorism. Regarding the ethics of how and where this intelligence is gathered she stated that "agencies will not often know the location or details of detention".
Her example to support the need for intelligence gathering from overseas was the case of Mohammed Megeurba, an Algerian man who was questioned by agencies in his country. Evidence collected by this questioning led to a raid in London which led to the Wood Green ricin plot being uncovered. Press have speculated that Megeurba was tortured to obtain this information, although Manningham-Buller has maintained neither she nor MI5 were aware of the "precise circumstances that attended their [Algerian agencies'] questioning of Megeurba". She emphasised that, had MI5 requested information regarding how the intelligence had been gathered, its request would have been ignored and the relationship between Britain and Algeria could have been damaged. She concluded by exemplifying the "importance of co-operation between states in countering the threat from international terrorism". Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights organisation Liberty, commended Manningham-Buller for being "brutally honest" about the activities of intelligence agencies. She also stated that Britain should not "legitimise" torture as a means of intelligence gathering by accepting evidence gained in such a manner as evidence in court. Manningham-Buller stated that the British intelligence services do not ask how intelligence is obtained "because that would make things difficult".
Refusal to appear before the Joint Committee on Human Rights On 23 January 2006, she refused to appear before the Joint Committee on Human Rights in Parliament to speak about "the extent to which the Service is, or could take steps to ensure it is, aware that information it receives from foreign agencies may have been obtained by the use of torture", and "any information which the Service may have about extraordinary renditions using UK airports".
Speech on MI5 after the September 11 attacks On 9 November 2006, Manningham-Buller gave a speech to the Mile End Group at Queen Mary, University of London as a guest of Professor Peter Hennessy in which she warned that her office was tracking 30 terror plots, and 200 groupings or networks, totalling over 1,600 individuals. She stated that MI5 had expanded by 50% since the September 11 attacks and stood at roughly 2,800 staff. She reiterated her warning that the threat "may – I suggest will – include the use of chemicals, bacteriological agents, radioactive materials and even nuclear technology".
This speech came three days after Dhiren Barot was sentenced to 40 years for his part in the 2004 Financial buildings plot in which he had a plan to build a radiological dirty bomb that involved setting fire to 10,000 smoke alarms. In September 2011 Eliza Manningham-Buller delivered one of the BBC Radio Reith Lectures and answered questions from an audience that included historian Peter Hennessy and novelist Ian McEwan.
Criticism of 42-day terrorism detention On 8 July 2008, Manningham-Buller made her maiden speech in the House of Lords following her resignation. She told the House that she was against government plans to extend the time period for retaining terrorist suspects in the UK from 28 to 42 days. She told peers that she disagreed on a "practical basis as well as a principled one". She criticised the plans for terrorism detention as being not "in any way workable" and emphasised the need for all political parties to work together in finding a solution for dealing with terrorism. Furthermore, Manningham-Buller maintained that "complete security" could never be achieved in a country and that civil liberties were at risk of being compromised if the plans were passed by the House of Lords.