Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson had ‘secret Downing Street affair with deputy press secretary’
10 April 2024, 22:08 | Updated: 11 April 2024, 11:29
Former Prime Minister Harold Wilson had an extramarital affair during his second term in office, his oldest surviving advisor has revealed.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The former Labour PM repeatedly denied having an affair during his time as prime minister and even sued over the suggestion.
It had been rumoured that Mr Wilson had an affair with his political secretary Marcia Williams, but Joe Haines, who acted as his press secretary, has revealed otherwise.
Mr Wilson actually had an affair with Janet Hewlett-Davies, Mr Haines has told The Times.
"The astonishing thing is that no one else, but me, knew of Janet's affair with Wilson, for which she neither sought any kind of benefit whatsoever," Mr Haines told the publication.
"It was certainly a love match on her side, and the joy which Wilson exhibited to me suggested that it was for him too."
Read More: Labour reveals plans to ‘breathe new life’ into high streets with reformed rates
Read More: Reeves: Labour’s plan to crack down on tax dodgers ‘not rocket science’
The affair apparently increase Mr Wilson's morale in his final years as prime minister before he resigned in 1976.
"She was of significance to the last Wilson administration: she was Harold Wilson's mistress," Mr Haines continued.
"She died nursing a secret which never leaked from Downing Street, the most notorious leaky building in Britain."
Both Mr Wilson and Ms Hewlett-Davies were married at the time of the affair.
She died last year aged 85, while Mr Wilson died in 1995, aged 79.
