MI5 Documents in the UK: Health Minister Nye Bevan Monitored for 30 Years

Declassified documents from the UK domestic intelligence agency MI5, made public by the National Archives, have revealed that future Health Minister Nye Bevan's parliamentary activities, external movements, and meetings were monitored for 30 years from 1933 until his death in 1960.

Documents made public by the UK domestic intelligence agency MI5 showed that Nye Bevan, one of the most fervent opponents of Winston Churchill and the wartime coalition government in parliament, was monitored. The agency suspected Bevan of having sympathies for communism. Although investigations revealed no cause for concern regarding Bevan's ties to the Communist Party, the surveillance was not terminated. A 1955 note stated that both the Communist Party and Trotskyists had occasionally attempted to persuade Bevan to work with them, but were unsuccessful.

Bevan, who became health minister after World War II and spearheaded the establishment of the state-funded National Health Service in 1948, passed away in 1960. An MI5 file review prepared two years after the death of Bevan, who was a coal miner in Wales and known for his impressive oratory skills, assessed that despite having a controversial personality, the file was surprisingly ordinary. The archives also included records regarding German diplomat Wolfgang zu Putlitz and Frank Bossard, who was imprisoned for leaking defense information.