Is It True MI5 Plotted To Overthrow The Labour Government Of Harold Wilson?

Yes. Paranoid Soviet defector Anatoli Golitsin claimed that Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell had been murdered by the KGB so that Harold Wilson, whom Golitsin insisted was a KGB operative, could succeed him to the leadership position. Many dismissed Golitsin's claims, but suspicions lingered for many years within the British intelligence services, and culminated in an actual plot to oust Wilson from office once he had become Prime Minister.

The Security Services spread nasty rumours about Wilson to the newspapers, including false allegations that he had a secret Russian lover to whom he had leaked classified information. It is also believed some elements from the military were involved in preparations for a possible coup. Many authors, including Paul Routledge, Stephen Dorril, and David Leigh have written about the affair.

Wilson was aware of the plotting against him and confided his fears about it to his wife. He resigned abruptly and unexpectedly as Prime Minister in 1976 and many believe the secret plotting may have been a factor in his decision to leave. After he was succeeded in office by Jim Callaghan, a private report on the plot was commissioned by the new Prime Minister. Known as The Hunt Report, it is believed to name those responsible. It remains under wraps to this day.