Dame Stella Rimington, the first female director general of MI5, has died

Dame Stella Rimington, who was the first female director general of MI5, has died, her family has announced.

She died “surrounded by her beloved family and dogs and determinedly held on to the life she loved until her last breath”.

Dame Stella, who was also an author, died at the age of 90.

She is widely credited as the inspiration for Dame Judi Dench’s M in the James Bond films.

Ms Rimington was appointed director general of MI5 in 1992, taking over the following year and holding the position until 1996.

As the first publicly-named “spymaster”, she did much to bring the service out of the shadows and explain its role to the public.

Born Stella Whitehouse in 1935 in South Norwood, south London, she attended Edinburgh University and married diplomat John Rimington in 1963.

The couple moved to India two years later when he was posted to New Delhi and in 1967 she began her 29-year career in MI5.

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