Paul Ritchie
MI6 Asia Director 2014-17
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Paul Ritchie (1962-2025) was a senior MI6 officer who served in postings in Nicosia, Brussels, New York and Afghanistan, and was responsible for Asia at the time of his retirement in 2017.
Early life
Paul John Ritchie was born in Cumbria on 26 March 1962.1 His father was the managing director of an engineering firm, while his mother was an adult literacy teacher.2
He attended St Aidan’s Comprehensive School in Carlisle before reading geography at Downing College Cambridge. A member of Labour’s youth wing, the Young Socialists, he remained a supporter of the party all his life.3
MI6 career
Ritchie officially joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1983.4 In reality, he became the youngest serving officer in the MI6 fast stream.5
At some point during his early career, he was involved in disruption work against the Abu Nidal Organisation.6 This may have been connected to his posting to Nicosia as Second Secretary (Chancery) in 1986.7 The ANO was linked to an attack on a British airbase in Cyprus in August that year.8
