Joe Haines dead: Former press secretary to Labour prime minister Harold Wilson, dies at 97

Haines, a lifelong Labour supporter, passed away at his home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on Wednesday, the Labour Party has confirmed.

Haines served as the Labour prime minister’s press secretary during two separate periods: first in the late 1960s, and again in the mid-1970s. He became one of Wilson’s most trusted advisers.

A Labour Party spokesperson said: "It is with great sadness that we announce that Joe Haines, who served as press secretary to Harold Wilson, died today at his home in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

"Joe, who was 97, had two spells as press secretary to the former Labour prime minister in the late '60s and mid-70s, becoming one of his most trusted advisers."

Born on January 29, 1928, Haines was fiercely proud of his working-class background. The son of a Rotherhithe docker, who died when Haines was just two years old, he was raised by his mother, a hospital cleaner.

Leaving school at 11, he began his newspaper career at 14 as a copyboy at the Glasgow Bulletin. Over the years, he built a reputation as a fast and brilliant writer, eventually becoming a political correspondent for The Sun. It was during his time in journalism that Wilson invited him to join his team as press secretary.

Haines later returned to journalism, working for the Daily Mirror, where he rose to become group political editor, assistant editor, and a non-executive director under Robert Maxwell. He also wrote Wilson’s authorised biography.

In 2023, at the age of 96, Haines claimed in an interview with The Times that Wilson had confessed to an affair with his deputy press secretary, Janet Hewlett-Davies, during his final year in Downing Street.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, a Cabinet Office minister, called him: One of the great characters of 20th-century Labour governments."

Alastair Campbell, former press secretary to Tony Blair, said Haines was a "huge support" throughout his journalism career and his time at Number 10.

Campbell added: He was a superb tabloid writer and had a great mind, with acute political judgement. He could be grouchy but he had a great heart too."

Haines was widowed and had no children. In his later years, he struggled with physical illness and required three weekly trips to the hospital for dialysis, as well as coping with loss of sight.