MI5 kept files on NHS founder Aneurin Bevan for decades, newly released records show

Security service tracked Labour minister from the 1930s until after his death

By LineZotpaper

Published22 October 2026

Updated22 October 2026

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Sources2 outlets

Newly released MI5 files show Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan, the Labour politician who founded the National Health Service, was monitored by Britain's security service for more than two decades, from his years as a backbench MP in the 1930s through his time as a minister in Clement Attlee's post-war government.

The records, made public at the National Archives, show MI5 first opened a personal file on Bevan, then the Labour MP for Ebbw Vale in South Wales, in 1933. Early entries included a report on a Canadian anti-Nazi rally in Montreal that Bevan addressed in 1934. 'Bevan has inherited the evangelical fervour of his Welsh forebears and knows how to use it in the Communist cause,' the report stated. 'He pictured the overthrow of the Nazi regime as meaning the commencement of a united Europe under Soviet rule.'

In 1943, Roger Hollis, a future director general of MI5, summarised what the service knew. Bevan had been 'in close touch' with Harry Pollitt, general secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain, and had been associated with the hunger marches of 1934, entertaining deputations of marchers in the House of Commons. He later fell out with communist allies, who accused him of building a movement of his own with 'all the elements of a fascist organisation.'

Not all officers saw the point of the operation. 'I do not think that Bevan's activities are a matter in which we, the security service, should be involved,' one officer wrote in 1943. 'In fact he makes exactly the same remarks in the Houses of Parliament pretty frequently, as any copy of Hansard will show.'

The monitoring continued after Bevan became minister of health in Clement Attlee's post-war government and established the NHS against fierce opposition from doctors. In 1949, MI5 became concerned about his friendship with Wilfred Macartney, who had been convicted of spying for Russia in 1928. Recordings of conversations suggested Macartney was passing information obtained from Bevan to the Communist Party leader. The director general, Sir Percy Sillitoe, took the evidence to Attlee, who dismissed it as a 'tissue of lies' but agreed to warn Bevan in general terms without referring to the intercepted material.

One of the final reports dates from 1954, when Bevan, by then in opposition, met the Soviet ambassador Yakov Malik at the Polish embassy in London. The lunch 'went off very badly,' partly because the ambassador had difficulty understanding Bevan's Welsh accent, and the party 'broke up in a none too friendly atmosphere.' There is nothing in the files to indicate MI5 ever tapped Bevan's phone or intercepted his mail. The file was not closed until 1975, 15 years after his death. A review conducted after his death concluded: 'Considering what a controversial character Nye Bevan was, the file is remarkably tame.'

Analysis

Why This Matters

The records put the creation of the NHS in a new context: the minister responsible was under state surveillance at the same time.
They raise broader questions about the boundary between legitimate security work and political monitoring of left-wing MPs.
The release gives researchers access to MI5's own reasoning about Bevan over several decades.

Background

Aneurin Bevan was a leading figure on Labour's left and served as minister of health in the post-war government of Clement Attlee, where he oversaw the establishment of the NHS despite strong opposition from doctors. MI5, Britain's domestic security service, took a close interest in communists and their associates in this period, and Bevan's radical politics and connections made him a subject of attention from the early 1930s. The records released at the National Archives are part of the official paper trail that becomes public under the archive system.

Key Perspectives

[MI5 reviewers]: A review after Bevan's death judged that 'considering what a controversial character Nye Bevan was, the file is remarkably tame,' suggesting the service found little concrete evidence of wrongdoing. [Prime Minister Clement Attlee]: Presented with MI5's 1949 concerns about Bevan's contact with a convicted spy, Attlee dismissed the claims as a 'tissue of lies' but agreed to warn Bevan in general terms. [Sceptics inside MI5]: As early as 1943, an officer questioned why the service was involved at all, noting Bevan repeated the same views openly in Parliament and that nothing could be done about him.

What to Watch

Whether further files released in coming years add detail on MI5's files on other Labour politicians of the era.
How historians weigh the intelligence concerns of the time against the internal doubts recorded in the file.
Whether the disclosure prompts any official response from the government or the Labour Party.

Sources

Aneurin Bevan’s personal security file was ‘remarkably tame’ – National Archives · UK news | The Guardian
MI5 monitored politician behind NHS for two decades, newly-released files show · The Independent UK

Checked

8 claims in this story checked against 1 source: 6 supported.

Show each claim

SupportedMI5 kept files on NHS founder Aneurin Bevan for decades, newly released records show.The Independent UK: “The file was not finally closed however until 1975 – 15 years after Mr Bevan had died.”
Partly supportedThe security service tracked Bevan from the 1930s until after his death.The Independent UK: “The monitoring continued throughout his time as a minister in the post-war Labour administration”
SupportedMI5 monitored Bevan for more than two decades, from his backbench years in the 1930s through his time as a post-war minister.The Independent UK: “Aneurin "Nye" Bevan, the Labour icon who founded the NHS, was subjected to surveillance by MI5 for over two decades”
SupportedA report said Bevan had inherited the evangelical fervour of his Welsh forebears and knew how to use it in the Communist cause.The Independent UK: ““Bevan has inherited the evangelical fervour of his Welsh forebears and knows how to use it in the Communist cause,” it stated.”
SupportedThe report said Bevan pictured the Nazi regime's overthrow as beginning a united Europe under Soviet rule.The Independent UK: ““He pictured the overthrow of the Nazi regime as meaning the commencement of a united Europe under Soviet rule.””
SupportedAn MI5 officer wrote, “I do not think that Bevan's activities are a matter in which we, the security service, should be involved.”The Independent UK: ““I do not think that Bevan’s activities are a matter in which we, the security service, should be involved,” one officer wrote in 1943.”
Partly supportedAttlee dismissed the evidence as a “tissue of lies.”The Independent UK: “the director general Sir Percy Sillitoe took the evidence to Mr Attlee – who dismissed Mr Macartney’s claims as a “tissue of lies””
SupportedThe file was not closed until 1975, 15 years after Bevan's death.The Independent UK: “The file was not finally closed however until 1975 – 15 years after Mr Bevan had died.”