MI6 chief reveals the real-life Q is a woman

In 2017, everyday misogyny stomps along the corridors of global power in ways that would make even mid-career James Bond blush.

But it seems MI6 is keen to change all that.

In a bid to encourage more female recruits, Britain's Secret Intelligence Service chief has revealed that in real-life Q - Bond's gadget quartermaster and tutter-in-chief - is, in fact, a woman.

Since making the leap from Ian Fleming's spy novels to the silver screen, the role of Q has been portrayed exclusively as a male role.

Actors who've played the role include Ben Whishaw, John Cleese and, most famously, World War II veteran and POW Desmond Llewelyn, who made the part his own for 17 films.

But Britain's global spymaster Sir Alex Younger, known as C, told the Women in IT Awards that, despite its reputation, Vauxhall Cross welcomes and relies on both sexes.

"The real-life Q is looking forward to meeting you and I'm pleased to report that the real-life Q is a woman," he said.

Sir Alex said the movie portrayals of spies needed to be overcome.

"It leads to a stereotype which is of a particular kind or a particular sort of person that will join MI6 - whether they're really posh or going to Oxford or whatever it is. I'm none of those things, by the way."

More than half a century of Bond's class-skewed, testosterone-drenched cinematic escapades have made it harder to build a Security Intelligence Service that is diverse. Sir Alex told the awards audience that changing all that was one of his priorities.

"We can reach into every community in Britain and make sure that we get the people that are the best, regardless of their background."

Women may indeed have exploded the metaphorical glass ceiling of Q's lab at MI6. But in a case of life imitating art, the foreign spy agency is ultimately led by a man best known for his posh pedigree, affairs, a secret love child, rappelling into action and causing mayhem on Britain's behalf overseas.

Foreign Secretary Johnson, Boris Johnson.