Stephen Lander

Stephen Lander    (Spook, Academic)
Born	1947
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Cambridge
Member of	Le Cercle
Special Immigration Appeals Commission Dates unknown  Panel Chair In office 2008 - 2012 Employer Judicial Appointments Commission  Chair of the Serious Organised Crime Agency In office 1 April 2006 - July 2009 Succeeded by Ian Andrews Le Cercle  Non-executive director In office 2004 - 2008 Employer Northgate Information Solutions  [[|?]] In office 2004 - 2007 Employer Stream-shield Networks  Non-executive director In office 2002 - 2005 Employer Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Non executive director  Director General of MI5 In office 1996 - October 2002 Deputy Eliza Manningham-Buller Preceded by Stella Rimington Succeeded by Eliza Manningham-Buller Le Cercle  MI5/H Branch/Director In office 1994 - 30 March 2006 Employer MI5  MI5/T Branch/Director In office February 1992 - 1994 Employer MI5 MI5 took the lead role against the IRA from the Metropolitan Police on 1 October 1992.  Head of T5 In office 1991 Employer MI5 Preceded by Stephen Lander Succeeded by Stephen Lander This may have been a simple renaming from G5, after terrorism was moved to its own (T) section in 1990.  Head of G5 In office 1990 Employer MI5 Preceded by Stephen Lander Succeeded by Stephen Lander  Unknown  In office 1985 Employer MI5 Preceded by Stephen Lander Succeeded by Stephen Lander B2. Dates are unknown, but he had this job in Autumn 1985. He proposed ending the traditional practice of placing new MI5 officers in F2 Section to learn the basics of counter-subversion work. This was strongly opposed by Director F.  Unknown  In office 1981 Employer MI5/F Section Preceded by Stephen Lander Succeeded by Stephen Lander F5. Had this job in around 1981. "?" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.  Unknown  In office 1975 - ? Employer MI5

Director General of MI5 and Le Cercle member, who after leaving MI5 has held a range of other senior posts both in and out of government, including heading the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Background

Lander was a pupil at Bishop's Stortford College, previously attended by MI5 officers including Peter Wright and Director-General Sir Dick White. and then Queens' College, Cambridge. He was awarded a Ph.D. for a thesis entitled The diocese of Chichester 1508-1558 : Episcopal reform under Robert Sherburne and its aftermath.

Career

He worked for three years at the Institute of Historical Research (part of the University of London) where he was assistant editor of the Victoria History of Cheshire, and serving as an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Liverpool. In 1975 he joined MI5. At some point during the mid-1980s, Lander served under Stella Rimington, whom he praised as "far and away" the best assistant director, he ever had. Lander worked for 25 years in MI5, rising to Director-General from 1996 to 2002.

MI5 Director General

Lander was MI5 Director General on 9/11, when he briefed Tony Blair and took part in COBR meetings at Downing Street, in the immediate wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States. Alistair Campbell and Cabinet Secretary Sir Richard Wilson were impressed by his performance.

Home Secretary David Blunkett was less of an admirer, complaining that it was almost as if he "talks in riddles, which makes it very difficult to pin him down."

In early 2002, Lander told staff that the government had provided additional funding but lower priority work would have to be reduced until recruitment could catch up. He retired as MI5 Director-General in October 2002.

SOCA Chair

Lander was the first head of the Serious Organised Crime Agency, dubbed "Britain's FBI".

Security Industry

The Guardian reported in 2006 that Lander retained a number of directorships in the security industry following his SOCA appointment:

Sir Stephen Lander, the head of Britain's elite crime-busting squad, is a paid director of a company that has IT contracts with every police force in the UK. He is also on the board of a second firm whose parent company has IT contracts with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Since taking up his post as chairman of the serious organised crime agency in September 2004, Sir Stephen, 58, has remained as a non-executive director of Northgate Information Solutions and StreamShield Networks, with a total remuneration of £60,000. As head of SOCA his starting salary was £75,000.

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