A MANDARIN at the Home Office who made his name fighting terrorism is being lined up as the next head of MI6, the secret intelligence service, senior Whitehall officials have disclosed.

Charles Farr, a 49-year-old spymaster who has overhauled the Home Office’s handling of the war on terror, is widely tipped to become “C” - the chief of MI6 - next July, succeeding Sir John Scarlett.

Farr, described as a smooth government operator, would be the first head of MI6 to have established his credentials in the post-9/11 security world rather than the cold war.

Scarlett, 60, former head of the service’s Moscow station, made his name as an expert in Soviet intelligence.

Farr has worked with MI5 on joint operations in the Middle East, details of which remain a closely guarded secret.

Farr joined the Home Office in July last year to head the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism. The office was established last year by John Reid, then home secretary, who restructured the Home Office so that it could focus on coordinating the war against Al-Qaeda. The unit now employs about 300 people.

Insiders say Farr, the office’s director-general, has shaken up the Whitehall security machine, impressing ministers with his drive and vision.

“Charlie is very intelligent and very hard-working. He drives everybody very hard. He has inspired respect and, to a certain degree, awe from the Home Office. They are used to working hard but not this hard,” said one official.

At the time of his appointment, the Home Office said Farr was a “diplomat” who had served at British embassies in South Africa and Jordan.

Since 2003, it added, he had held senior posts concerned with security and counter-terrorism.

This weekend security insiders said Farr was a career MI6 officer who rose to become “CT” - head of the counter-terrorism department - the third most senior rank in the service.

There is speculation in Whitehall that the selection process for the next C has begun. Scarlett was appointed in July 2004 and is set to serve a five-year term, stepping down next July. Farr’s two-year secondment from MI6 to the Home Office is due to end at almost exactly the same time.

Farr’s main rival for the post is thought to be the deputy head of MI6, whose identity cannot be disclosed for security reasons.

The Foreign Office said this weekend that it was too early to comment.

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