RIMINGTON, Dame Stella, English intelligence agent, b-1935. In 1969 she joined MI5 and became a section head dealing with UK subversives, and as such was involved in the miners’ strike of 1984-5. From then on she was in direct counter-terrorism roles. In 1992 Stella became the Director-General of MI5, the first woman head and also the first whose identity was made public (1995). Retired from MI5 in 1996, and awarded Dame Commander (Order of the Bath). Since 1997 Stella has been a non-executive director with the Marks and Spencer group.