Labour said Joe Haines, former press secretary of Harold Wilson, was 97 years old.

Lifelong labor supporter Haines died Wednesday at the home of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the party said.

Haines served as press secretary to the labor prime minister in the late 1960s and mid-1970s, after Rupert Murdoch had served as a political journalist for the Suns. He was also the political editor of the Daily Mirror and wrote the biography of Robert Maxwell, his boss at the time.

Last year, Haines claimed Wilson admitted to it with his deputy press secretary Janet Hewlett-Davies in his final year on Downing Street.

Haines said in an interview with Times that he revealed that he had kept secrets for half a century, and Wilson and Hewlett-Davies were told Wilson (Wilson) 22 years old in junior year.

A Labor spokesman said: "We announce that Joe Haines, who served as Harold Wilson's press secretary, was today at Tunbridge Wells died at home.

"Joe, now 97, served as press secretary to the former labor prime minister in the late 1960s and late 1970s, becoming one of his most trusted advisers."

He was described as “very proud of his working-class background” and was a journalist and commentator before and after his political period.

"A son of Rotherhithe Docker, Joe, died when he was two years old, was raised by his mother (the hospital cleaner). He left school at the age of 11," the statement added. and at the age of 14, he worked as a photocopier in the Glasgow announcement.

“But he himself was in trouble as a political correspondent. He was providing politics to Murdoch before the Sun when Wilson asked him to serve as press secretary.

“He is a keen tongue writer who has earned a reputation for his resilience and loyalty.

"After Wilson left the office, Joe wrote a controversial bestseller about his political period, The Politics of Power. Later, he joined the Daily Mirror as Robert Maxwell's leader Under the group political editor, assistant editor and non-executive director, he wrote his authorized biography.”

Cabinet Office Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds wrote Wilson's biography, who said he had interviewed Haines several times.

Joe, with his profound knowledge and a razor-like political brain, served Harold with outstanding and loyal loyalty. One of the great figures of the Labor government in the 20th century, he will be greatly missed. ”

A Labour spokesman said Haynes privately advised the party and its leaders during his retirement.

"He was pre-resigned by his wife Rene, who had no children. Although Joe had been struggling with physical illness for a while, had to go to the hospital for dialysis three times a week, and had lost sight, he was still psychologically still Be alert. "The spokesperson said.

“He spent Christmas and New Year on a cruise on the Iberian Peninsula, and recently held a party for his 97th birthday – he was born on January 29, 1928 – insisting on dying at home where he was cared for by his caregivers take care of."