A diplomatic high-flyer with close ties to 10 Downing Street has been appointed the first outsider to head MI6 in more than 40 years.

Sir John Sawers, 53, who is the British Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, will become the Chief — or “C”, as the head of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) is called in Whitehall — in November. He will replace Sir John Scarlett, who is retiring after more than five years in the post.

His surprise appointment, announced by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, means that the Government has gone for a fresh face — and one with intimate knowledge of the way Downing Street works — rather than the insider candidate, the present chief’s deputy.

When he becomes “C” — writing all internal memos in green ink — he will play a vital role in ensuring that new guidelines on the questioning of terrorist detainees are enforced rigidly by MI6’s intelligence officers. The parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee was asked by Gordon Brown to draw up fresh guidelines, after the row over the CIA’s alleged torture-treatment of al-Qaeda suspects. A Metropolitan Police inquiry is examining whether MI5 or MI6 indirectly committed a criminal act by supplying the CIA with questions that were posed to one detainee, Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born British resident.

Whitehall insiders said there was no doubt that Sir John’s distinguished career as a diplomat and the time he spent in 10 Downing Street as Tony Blair’s foreign policy adviser in 1999-2001, were crucial factors in the decision to opt for an outsider rather than the best insider. “There has always been a battle between No 10 and the Foreign Office over who is in charge of foreign policy, and this appointment will give the Prime Minister the chance to deploy Sir John for covert diplomacy, making use of a man who is unquestionably a Grade One ambassador, not a spook,” one insider said.

Sir John Sawers, however, does have espionage in his blood. He began his career with MI6 in 1977, serving in Yemen and Syria. He then switched to the Diplomatic Service in the 1980s, following a more conventional path as a British envoy, and was appointed political director of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2003.

His talents were spotted at Beechen Cliff School, formerly the City of Bath Boys’ School, in Somerset, where, at the age of 18, he broke, and holds to this day, the 400 metres hurdle record. It stands at 59.4 seconds. He also excelled in drama, playing a notable role in Oscar Wilde. “It held him in good stead and someone once said he could speak to anyone, from paupers to kings,” Andrew Davies, headmaster of Beechen Cliff School, told The Times.

That an insider has failed to win the top job marks a break in MI6’s more recent history. Theoretically, Sir John Scarlett, who will be 61 in August, was brought in from outside because he had previously been chairman of the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), where he was responsible for the controversial government dossier on Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction.

However, before his JIC appointment, he had served as a career MI6 officer for 30 years and he was always seen by the intelligence service as an internal candidate. Insiders were picked for the top job in MI6 as a matter of course from the 1970s. However, in the first 50 years of MI6’s existence — this year the service will celebrate its centenary — a number of military officers were drafted in to serve as “C”.

One former chief, the late Sir Dick White, was Director-General of MI5, the sister service, before moving across the Thames to take over at the Secret Intelligence Service, where he was in charge from 1956 to 1968.

Sir John Sawers, who was born in Warwick and is married to a teacher, with three grown-up children, will now have to learn how to retreat into the shadows after a long career as a public figure. It will be a challenge because he has a reputation for being highly approachable, is good company and loves the theatre as well as sport, especially tennis and cycling.

After he gave up being a spy, Sir John had several overseas postings as a diplomat, including Pretoria and Washington, and was appointed Ambassador in Cairo in 2001. For three months he was the Government’s special representative in Baghdad.

During his career he has been closely involved in policymaking on Iran, including Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons programme, Afghanistan and the Balkans. He also worked on Northern Ireland and the implementation of the Good Friday agreement. Mr Miliband said: “I welcome the appointment of Sir John Sawers as the new ‘C’. I look forward to working with him on the challenges we face as a country.”

The Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister’s official spokesman paid tribute to Sir John Scarlett for his “outstanding contribution” as “C” and for guiding MI6 “through a period of change”.

Sir John Sawers visited his old school two years ago and told pupils of his fond memories of his time there, between 1966 and 1973. Mr Davies said that he recalled how he had enjoyed trips to the Alps. He also remembered how he had been hit by his Latin teacher with a training shoe.

After leaving the boys’ school in Bath, Sir John studied physics and philosophy at the University of Nottingham, and also subsequently attended the universities of St Andrews, Witwatersrand in South Africa and Harvard in the US.

The statement put out yesterday by Downing Street made a cryptic reference to his early career in MI6, saying that he was “transferring from the FCO and rejoining SIS [Secret Intelligence Services]”.

Looking ahead to the challenges facing the new “C”, Mr Miliband said: “International terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the growth of regional conflict and instability mean that there has never been a time when the skills and dedication of our intelligence agencies, including SIS, have been more necessary to our national security and the safety of our people around the world.”

The Conservatives also issued a statement about Sir John Sawers, saying: “We welcome his appointment. If we are elected we look forward to working with him.”

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