Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere
Andrew David Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere, (born 1962) is a former British intelligence officer who served as Director General of MI5 from 2013 to 2020. He has been serving as Lord Chamberlain of the Household since 1 April 2021, and is a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Biography. Parker was educated at Churchill College, Cambridge where he studied natural sciences. He joined the Security Service in 1983. He was seconded to HM Customs and Excise as Director Intelligence in 1999 before becoming Director, International Terrorism at the Security Service in February  2005. After leading the Security Service's response to the 7 July 2005 London bombings and the 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, he became Deputy Director General in 2007. Parker went on to become Director General of the Service in April 2013. As of 2015, Parker was paid a salary of between £165,000 and £169,999 by the department, making him one of the 328 most highly paid people in the British public sector at that time. In May 2018 Parker said that Russia is seeking to undermine European democracies with "malign activities". Speaking in Berlin, Parker also condemned Russia  for the "reckless" poisoning of the Skripals in Salisbury. Russia has denied involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia. Parker said the Kremlin was taking part in "deliberate, targeted, malign activity intended to undermine our free, open and democratic societies". Parker also warned Islamic State aspires to commit "devastating" and "more complex" attacks in Europe. In 2019 Parker, writing with Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, suggested that far-right and far-left terrorism have been identified as key threats to the safety and prosperity of the nation. They warned that while Islamist terrorism  remains the largest by scale, they are also “concerned about the growing threat from other forms of violent extremism … covering a spectrum of hate-driven ideologies, including the extreme right and left.” In December 2020 it was announced that Parker would be created a crossbench life peer in the 2020 Political Peerages. He was created Baron Parker of Minsmere, "of Minsmere in the County of Suffolk" on 29 January 2021. The territorial designation reflects his interest in bird watching. Parker retired from MI5 in April 2020. On 5 February 2021, Buckingham Palace announced that Lord Parker of Minsmere would succeed  Earl Peel as Lord Chamberlain on 1 April 2021. Honours. Parker was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) in the 2019 Birthday Honours. He was appointed as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order upon appointment as Lord Chamberlain, and was made a member of the Privy Council a few days later.