Harold Wilson confessed to secret affair while he was PM, close aide reveals

Joe Haines, who kept the secret for decades while writing about British politics, said he wanted to ensure the historical record about Lord Wilson's time in office was accurate.

Thursday 11 April 2024 12:12, UK

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Harold Wilson confessed to a secret extramarital affair during his second term as prime minister, one of his closest aides has revealed.

There have long been rumours that the Labour politician, who was in power for two separate periods in the 1960s and 1970s, had a relationship with his political secretary Marcia Williams.

But according to , there was a different "love match" in Downing Street during his marriage.

Lord Wilson's long-serving press secretary Joe Haines told the newspaper that the PM had actually been in a relationship with deputy press secretary Janet Hewlett-Davies.

Now 96 years old, Mr Haines broke almost 50 years of silence to reveal that both parties had told him about their affair.

Mr Haines, who kept the secret for decades while writing about British politics, said he and another close adviser - Bernard Donoughue - wanted to ensure the historical record about Lord Wilson's time in office was accurate.

He claims the affair "increased" the then prime minister's morale "more than anyone could know" in the two years before he retired.

The modernising Labour PM who held office twice

Jennifer Scott

Political reporter

Harold Wilson was the leader of the Labour Party between 1963 and 1976, and twice held the office of prime minister.

During his first term - from October 1964 to June 1970 - his government made a number of modernising changes to British law, including abolishing capital punishment, decriminalising homosexuality and liberalising access to birth control.

He also renationalised the British steel industry, created the Open University, and gave bus travel concessions to pensioners for the first time.

But when he called an election amid a tough economic situation, he was ousted from office and the Tories took charge of the country.

Wilson kept hold of his party's leadership and come the February 1974 election, he formed a minority government - with a further election to break the hung parliament held in October that year seeing him gain a small majority of three.

Although he again focused on domestic issues, he also oversaw a referendum on remaining as part of the European Community - which he won.

But to everyone's surprise, he stepped down in 1976, saying he had always planned to retire at 60.

Initially staying on as an MP, he became a peer in 1983, dubbed Baron Wilson of Rievaulx - after the abbey in his native Yorkshire.

He died in April 1993, and was survived by his wife of more than 50 years, Mary, and his two sons, Robin and Giles.

Ms Hewlett-Davies was 22 years younger than Lord Wilson - and was a married woman in her 30s at the time of their tryst.

"She died nursing a secret which never leaked from Downing Street, the most notorious leaky building in Britain," Mr Haines said.

Explaining why it remained confidential for so long, Lord Donoughue told the BBC: "We kept it secret because we thought it would be used damagingly against him at that time.

"There's no reason for that now, and we waited until they had both died - Wilson some time ago and Janet just a few months ago, and so I felt as a sometime historian this was important to go in the historical record of Harold Wilson."

Mr Haines revealed that Ms Hewlett-Davies confessed to the affair after she was spotted climbing the staircase to the prime minister's room in 1974.

The day Wilson's mistress caught Nixon's eye

Jon Craig

Chief political correspondent

On a state visit to the UK in 1974, Richard Nixon - just months before he resigned over the Watergate scandal - mistook Janet Hewlett-Davies for Marcia Williams when he saw her in 10 Downing Street.

Mr Nixon's amusing mistake is revealed in the recent biography of Mr Wilson by the Labour MP and shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who describes what happened in a chapter about Wilson's return to Downing Street for his second term as prime minister.

Read Jon Craig's insights on the Harold Wilson story in full.

Meanwhile, Lord Wilson - who died in 1995 aged 79 - had confided that his lover had given him "a new lease of life".

Ms Hewlett-Davies passed away last year and was one of the first women to run communications for several Whitehall departments.

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