In Conversation with GCHQ director Anne Keast-Butler at Mansfield College Oxford

8 May 2026

Mansfield College in Oxford has to be one of the prettiest and most welcoming campuses I have visited in the UK. It also has a special connection to the spy world. During the Second World War, the site housed the Code and Cypher Production Unit, which was responsible for making secure codes for the Allies. A team of 40+ women led by a Royal Navy Paymaster Commander, worked tirelessly to produce cipher keys and code books. I was honoured to interview one of the women in February 2025, and I am happy to report she is still with us at the grand age of 101.

So, when I received an invitation from Principal Helen Mountfield KC (photograph - centre) to speak at Mansfield College, I jumped at the chance to spend a few days soaking up the atmosphere at one of Bletchley Park's more enigmatic sister stations.

The high-profile public event took place in the Sir Joseph Hotung Auditorium. Every seat was taken as the audience patiently waited to see who the mystery 'special guest' advertised as appearing alongside me was. Of course, I was let in on the secret well in advance. It was an honour to share the stage with the Director of GCHQ, Anne Keast-Butler (photograph - left), who made history as the first woman to lead Britain's intelligence, security and cyber agency in 2023. Expertly chaired by the Principal, Anne and I discussed the main themes in my debut book, Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence, and explored their significance for women in intelligence, past and present.

The event was a major milestone in my journey as an author and in my mission to write forgotten women's voices into the history of secret intelligence.

Photograph: (L-R) Anne Keast-Butler (Director of GCHQ), Helen Mountfield KC (Principal of Mansfield College), and Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall at Mansfield College, Oxford.