Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender
Encyclopedia
Marcia Matilda Falkender, Baroness Falkender CBE
(born 10 March 1932), formerly Marcia Williams (née
Field), is a British
Labour
politician, being first the private secretary for, and then the political secretary and head of political office to, Harold Wilson
.
and read for a BA
in History at Queen Mary College
, University of London
. After graduating she became secretary to the General Secretary of the Labour Party in 1955.
, Member of Parliament for Huyton
, a position she retained until 1964, when she rose to be his political secretary and head of the political office in his position as leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister from 1964 until 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976. Falkender claims that she first met Wilson when he offered her a lift when she was standing at a bus stop. Wilson's press secretary Joe Haines claims that the pair first met at a dinner with the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev
, at which Khrushchev and the Labour MP George Brown
had a drunken argument, which Williams took down in shorthand. Wilson reportedly drove her home after dinner.
Questions were raised in the press at the time about her commercial dealings, however both Wilson and Williams successfully sued many London newspapers for libel. Later Harold Wilson publicly called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the press because of the defamation in the media, and that there had been a concerted smear campaign to de-stabilise his administration by MI5. Later these claims were corroborated by Peter Wright, former assistant director of MI5, in Spycatcher. Spycatcher was banned in the UK by Margaret Thatcher's administration.
Until 1966, the award of peerages was the prerogative of the Chief Whip, and not the Prime Minister. Wilson took that power to award peerages for himself, and later told his policy adviser, Bernard Donoughue, that he did it because "that gal Marcia insisted on it". Donoughue's diary recorded Wilson telling one of his staff that he had been rowing with Falkender, who was demanding "peerages for friends".
When Wilson resigned, Joe Haines, Wilson's press secretary, accused Lady Falkender of writing the first draft of his Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
on lavender paper which Haines styled as the "Lavender List". Haines was never asked to produce any evidence for this claim and to date none has been produced. Wilson's honours list included many businessmen and celebrities, along with his political supporters. In a BBC Panorama programme aired on 14 February 1977 called to clarify his book Joe Haines explicitly and unequivocally denied any financial impropriety in the compilation of the list. Wilson's choice of appointments caused lasting damage to his reputation, Roy Jenkins
noted that Wilson's retirement "was disfigured by his, at best, eccentric resignation honours list, which gave peerages or knighthoods to some adventurous business gentlemen, several of whom were close neither to him nor to the Labour Party." Some of those whom Wilson honoured included Lord Kagan
, the inventor of Gannex, who was eventually imprisoned for fraud, and Sir Eric Miller
, who later committed suicide while under police investigation for corruption. A subsequent full Department of Industry inquiry into Miller's company completely exonerated Wilson, and no evidence of any kind has been produced of financial impropriety. Wilson initially ascribed opposition from the media to the list as "anti semitism" because of the extraordinary number of Jews who received honours: Delfont, Grade, Weidenfeld, Astaire, Miller, Kagan and the Prime Minister's doctor Joe Stone who received a peerage were all Jews and Wilson was a well known philo-semite. The media denied this claim.
In 1990s the two large academic biographies of Wilson were published by Philip Ziegler and Professor Ben Pimlott, both restating that there was no financial impropriety in the compilation of the list. Professor Ben Pimlott
observed in his biography of Wilson, political secretaries often write down lists at the instructions of their employer and that the list was pink does not itself prove anything. Both Lady Falkender and Harold Wilson maintained that the list was Wilson's.
In 2001 Joe Haines re-wrote his original book, "The Politics of Power", containing the claims and republished it as "Glimmers of Twilight" This time claiming financial impropriety and that Falkender had sexually blackmailed Wilson into selling honours for her own personal benefit such as a house and various other emoluments. Falkender took legal action which caused the BBC to shelve a docudrama based on Joe Haines' second version of events rather than the original version. After the programme was eventually aired in March 2007, despite being 74 years old and suffering from the after-effects of a stroke, Falkender successfully sued the BBC for libel, winning a settlement of £75,000. . The BBC promised never to rebroadcast the programme again.
as Baroness Falkender, of West Haddon
in the County of Northamptonshire
on 11 July 1974 but has never spoken in the Lords. She attends the House and votes. Falkender had been her mother's maiden name.
As a result of her peerage, Private Eye
often referred to her as "Forkbender". Although she attends sittings in the House of Lords
, she has not yet made a maiden speech
.
She was also one of the founder members of The Silver Trust
, a charity which sponsored British silversmiths to provide a silver service for 10 Downing Street. Prior to The Silver Trust, Downing Street had no silver of its own; it was provided on loan from other government offices.
Marcia Field married George Edmund Charles Williams in 1955, but they divorced in 1961; she continued to be known as Marcia Williams in her professional life. Falkender had two sons in the late 1960s by the former political editor of the Daily Mail
, Walter Terry. When Wilson lost office in 1970, Falkender seized his papers, and her brother, Tony Field, helped Wilson break into her garage to recover them. On her brother's wedding day, in 1973, his passport, airline tickets and money disappeared. Field called the police, who were told by Falkender that she had put them away for "safe keeping".
In 1967, Wilson sued the pop group The Move
for libel after the band's manager Tony Secunda
published a promotional postcard for the single "Flowers In the Rain", featuring a caricature depicting Wilson in bed with Falkender. Gossip had hinted at an improper relationship, though these rumours were never substantiated. Wilson won the case, and all royalties from the song were assigned in perpetuity to a charity of Wilson's choosing.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 10 March 1932), formerly Marcia Williams (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Field), is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician, being first the private secretary for, and then the political secretary and head of political office to, Harold Wilson
Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
.
Background and early career
Born Marcia Field, Falkender was educated at the independent selective Northampton High School for GirlsNorthampton High School
Northampton High School is a private selective day school for girls in Hardingstone, Northampton, England.- Location :The school is about from Northampton town centre along the Newport Pagnell road which separates the school from Wootton.- History :The school was founded in 1878 by a committee of...
and read for a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in History at Queen Mary College
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. After graduating she became secretary to the General Secretary of the Labour Party in 1955.
In the service of Harold Wilson
In 1956, Marcia Williams, as she was then known, became private secretary to Harold WilsonHarold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC was a British Labour Member of Parliament, Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the...
, Member of Parliament for Huyton
Huyton (UK Parliament constituency)
Huyton was a county constituency in the United Kingdom. Created in 1950, it was centred on Huyton in North West England. Its one and only Member of Parliament throughout its existence was Labour MP Harold Wilson, who served as prime minister from 1964 to 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976.The...
, a position she retained until 1964, when she rose to be his political secretary and head of the political office in his position as leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister from 1964 until 1970 and again from 1974 to 1976. Falkender claims that she first met Wilson when he offered her a lift when she was standing at a bus stop. Wilson's press secretary Joe Haines claims that the pair first met at a dinner with the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, at which Khrushchev and the Labour MP George Brown
George Brown, Baron George-Brown
George Alfred Brown, Baron George-Brown, PC was a British Labour politician, who served as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1960 to 1970, and served in a number of positions in the Cabinet, most notably as Foreign Secretary, in the Labour Government of the 1960s...
had a drunken argument, which Williams took down in shorthand. Wilson reportedly drove her home after dinner.
Questions were raised in the press at the time about her commercial dealings, however both Wilson and Williams successfully sued many London newspapers for libel. Later Harold Wilson publicly called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the press because of the defamation in the media, and that there had been a concerted smear campaign to de-stabilise his administration by MI5. Later these claims were corroborated by Peter Wright, former assistant director of MI5, in Spycatcher. Spycatcher was banned in the UK by Margaret Thatcher's administration.
Until 1966, the award of peerages was the prerogative of the Chief Whip, and not the Prime Minister. Wilson took that power to award peerages for himself, and later told his policy adviser, Bernard Donoughue, that he did it because "that gal Marcia insisted on it". Donoughue's diary recorded Wilson telling one of his staff that he had been rowing with Falkender, who was demanding "peerages for friends".
When Wilson resigned, Joe Haines, Wilson's press secretary, accused Lady Falkender of writing the first draft of his Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours
The 1976 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours were announced on 27 May 1976 to mark the resignation of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The list of honours became known satirically as the "Lavender List".-Controversy:...
on lavender paper which Haines styled as the "Lavender List". Haines was never asked to produce any evidence for this claim and to date none has been produced. Wilson's honours list included many businessmen and celebrities, along with his political supporters. In a BBC Panorama programme aired on 14 February 1977 called to clarify his book Joe Haines explicitly and unequivocally denied any financial impropriety in the compilation of the list. Wilson's choice of appointments caused lasting damage to his reputation, Roy Jenkins
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
noted that Wilson's retirement "was disfigured by his, at best, eccentric resignation honours list, which gave peerages or knighthoods to some adventurous business gentlemen, several of whom were close neither to him nor to the Labour Party." Some of those whom Wilson honoured included Lord Kagan
Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan
Joseph Kagan, Baron Kagan was a British industrialist and the founder of Kagan Textiles, of Elland, which made raincoats from the waterproof Gannex fabric he had invented. Gannex raincoats were most famously worn by Harold Wilson...
, the inventor of Gannex, who was eventually imprisoned for fraud, and Sir Eric Miller
Eric Miller (businessman)
Sir Eric Merton Miller was a British businessman who committed suicide while under investigation for fraud.-Early life:...
, who later committed suicide while under police investigation for corruption. A subsequent full Department of Industry inquiry into Miller's company completely exonerated Wilson, and no evidence of any kind has been produced of financial impropriety. Wilson initially ascribed opposition from the media to the list as "anti semitism" because of the extraordinary number of Jews who received honours: Delfont, Grade, Weidenfeld, Astaire, Miller, Kagan and the Prime Minister's doctor Joe Stone who received a peerage were all Jews and Wilson was a well known philo-semite. The media denied this claim.
In 1990s the two large academic biographies of Wilson were published by Philip Ziegler and Professor Ben Pimlott, both restating that there was no financial impropriety in the compilation of the list. Professor Ben Pimlott
Ben Pimlott
Benjamin John Pimlott, known as Ben Pimlott , was a British historian of the post-war period in Britain...
observed in his biography of Wilson, political secretaries often write down lists at the instructions of their employer and that the list was pink does not itself prove anything. Both Lady Falkender and Harold Wilson maintained that the list was Wilson's.
In 2001 Joe Haines re-wrote his original book, "The Politics of Power", containing the claims and republished it as "Glimmers of Twilight" This time claiming financial impropriety and that Falkender had sexually blackmailed Wilson into selling honours for her own personal benefit such as a house and various other emoluments. Falkender took legal action which caused the BBC to shelve a docudrama based on Joe Haines' second version of events rather than the original version. After the programme was eventually aired in March 2007, despite being 74 years old and suffering from the after-effects of a stroke, Falkender successfully sued the BBC for libel, winning a settlement of £75,000. . The BBC promised never to rebroadcast the programme again.
Peerage
She was elevated to the PeeragePeerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
as Baroness Falkender, of West Haddon
West Haddon
West Haddon is a village in the Daventry district of the county of Northamptonshire, England about north-west of Northampton and east of Rugby and just off the A428 road which by-passes the village...
in the County of Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
on 11 July 1974 but has never spoken in the Lords. She attends the House and votes. Falkender had been her mother's maiden name.
As a result of her peerage, Private Eye
Private Eye
Private Eye is a fortnightly British satirical and current affairs magazine, edited by Ian Hislop.Since its first publication in 1961, Private Eye has been a prominent critic and lampooner of public figures and entities that it deemed guilty of any of the sins of incompetence, inefficiency,...
often referred to her as "Forkbender". Although she attends sittings in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, she has not yet made a maiden speech
Maiden speech
A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament.Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country...
.
Writings
She has written two books about her time in Downing Street: Inside Number 10 on the period 1964-1970 and Downing Street in Perspective on Wilson's third term as Prime Minister 1974-1976. After retiring from working in Downing Street, she worked as a columnist for the Mail on Sunday from 1983-88. She continued to work for Wilson, handling his private business from the time of his resignation in 1976 until his death in 1995.She was also one of the founder members of The Silver Trust
The Silver Trust
The Silver Trust is a registered UK charity, its initial aim was to provide 10 Downing Street with a collection of contemporary silver. The Trust was established in 1987 by Rupert Hambro, Lady Falkender, Lady Henderson and Jean Muir...
, a charity which sponsored British silversmiths to provide a silver service for 10 Downing Street. Prior to The Silver Trust, Downing Street had no silver of its own; it was provided on loan from other government offices.
Personal life
Marcia Field married George Edmund Charles Williams in 1955, but they divorced in 1961; she continued to be known as Marcia Williams in her professional life. Falkender had two sons in the late 1960s by the former political editor of the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Walter Terry. When Wilson lost office in 1970, Falkender seized his papers, and her brother, Tony Field, helped Wilson break into her garage to recover them. On her brother's wedding day, in 1973, his passport, airline tickets and money disappeared. Field called the police, who were told by Falkender that she had put them away for "safe keeping".
In 1967, Wilson sued the pop group The Move
The Move
The Move, from Birmingham, England, were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any success in the United States....
for libel after the band's manager Tony Secunda
Tony Secunda
Anthony Michael "Tony" Secunda was a British manager of rock groups in the 1960s and 1970s, including The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, The Move, and T...
published a promotional postcard for the single "Flowers In the Rain", featuring a caricature depicting Wilson in bed with Falkender. Gossip had hinted at an improper relationship, though these rumours were never substantiated. Wilson won the case, and all royalties from the song were assigned in perpetuity to a charity of Wilson's choosing.