MI5 warns Whitehall China is using LinkedIn to spy on MPs

Tuesday 18 November 2025 13.12

By:
Saskia Koopman and Mauricio Alencar

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MPs have been warned that agents linked to China are using LinkedIn and professional job seekers to target people working in parliament, triggering the most serious espionage warning issued to Westminster this year.

Speaker of the House Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Lords leader Lord McFall circulated an MI5 warning on Tuesday, telling MPs that Chinese state agents were “relentless” in their efforts to interfere in the democratic process and were actively reaching out to individuals in Westminster to gather information and foster long-term relationships.

According to The Times, two recruitment consultants have approached lawmakers’ staff on LinkedIn “on a large scale” on behalf of China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS).

MI5 said the pair were fronts for China’s intelligence services and warned that other profiles on the site may be fake or compromised.

Lindsay told lawmakers that Beijing’s goal was to “gather information and lay the foundations for a long-term relationship” using networking platforms, recruiters and consultants acting covertly.

Security Minister Jarvis said the government was seeking to implement new powers to counter foreign interference in elections. He added that all think tanks and economists working around Westminster should be concerned about China’s espionage efforts.

“It’s not just MPs who should be worried about this. Parliamentary staff, economists, think tank employees, geopolitical consultants and government officials have all been targeted because of their networks and access to politicians.

“This activity involves covert and calculated efforts by a foreign power to interfere in our sovereign affairs for its own purposes, and the government will not tolerate it.”

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Prosecution of Chinese spies increases

The warning comes amid a wider row over Britain’s handling of threats from Beijing, following the collapse of a high-profile prosecution last month.

The Attorney General’s Office dropped charges against two men accused of spying for China after prosecutors were unable to obtain confirmation from the government that Beijing posed a national security threat, a legal threshold required for conviction.

The collapse has sparked political fallout, with Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch accusing the government of “sucking up to Beijing”, a claim denied by ministers. Keir Starmer said he would publish the full witness statement.

The dispute follows increasing warnings from the British intelligence community.

MI5 Director General Sir Ken McCallum has repeatedly described Chinese activity as occurring on a “massive scale”, with more than 20,000 people in the UK approached by suspected Chinese agents, often via LinkedIn.

He has warned that China’s strategy centers on industrial espionage, targeting businesses in the fields of AI, advanced research and cutting-edge technology.

Despite this, the UK has struggled to formally define Beijing as a threat.

Previous government statements described China’s global ambitions to become a technological and economic superpower as a “national security threat”, but ministers remained wary of damaging economic ties.

The latest MI5 warning shows that the risk of espionage is growing, not decreasing.

To Westminster employees who are now advised to treat LinkedIn as warily as cold calls from hostile intelligence agencies, it appears China’s outreach is targeted, systematic and ongoing.