Oundle author Alex Grant talks about new book Sex, Spies and Scandal: The John Vassall Affair and its Stamford connection

A relationship between a local MP and a Soviet spy has come to light as part of a ‘neglected’ 1960s scandal.

The relationship between former MP for Peterborough, Sir Harmar Nicholls, and spy John Vassall is revealed in a new book by Oundle author Alex Grant, Sex, Spies and Scandal: The John Vassall Affair.

It is little-known compared to the Cambridge Five spy ring and the Profumo Affair, which took place just six months later and became the subject of a string of books, TV series and films.

In 1954, Vassall was blackmailed into handing over British Admiralty secrets to the Soviets for more than seven years after compromising photos were taken while he worked as a British Embassy clerk in Moscow.

Recently declassified documents revealed that while spying he had a relationship with Tory MP Nicholls.

The constituency at the time bordered Stamford to the south, including Burghley Park, and a slice of Northamptonshire, including Oundle.

“I think it’s a genuinely fascinating chunk of early 1960s British history which has kind of been forgotten about,” said Alex.

“Everyone knows about Profumo because it’s been written about dozens of times and been the subject of TV series and films, whereas there hadn’t been a proper book written about this since 1963.”

Alex has a political background through 16 years as a Labour councillor in the London borough of Greenwich and a stint in Parliament.

He stepped away in 2014 and moved to Oundle to begin a literary career, ghost-writing many books before embarking on the first book under his own name.

Having initially set out to write about the colourful Dolphin Square, a block of flats rented out to MPs as well as civil servants like Vassall, he then decided to drill down into this overlooked story.

Then came a huge slice of good fortune.

“I had a real lucky break about two years ago when a lot of the MI5 files that had been classified about the case for 60 years became declassified in the National Archives,” he explained.

“That was a real godsend because a lot of the granular detail about how Vassall spied and how MI5 caught him came out.

“It released a lot of new material including the names of the two MPs that Vassall had a sexual relationship with whilst he was spying.

“One of those MPs was Harmar Nicholls.”

Alex says that Nicholls, who had no idea of Vassall’s espionage, admitted to visiting his flat at Dolphin Square, but always denied their relationship had been sexual.

“The extraordinary thing about Harmar Nicholls was that he almost certainly slept with Vassall in the winter of 1961/62 - Vassall wasn’t caught until September 1962,” Alex said.

“Vassall told MI5 all about it, MI5 believed him, but because he (Nicholls) had friends in high places, and because one mister had already resigned in the MacMillan government, to avoid further resignations it was very effectively hushed up.

“The man continued as an MP for another 12 years and when he lost his seat in 1974 he was given a seat in the Lords a year later and, I think, remained there for another 25 years.

“He kind of got away with it.”

Alex is convinced that while Vassall was handed a 18-year jail sentence and the lives of many of his blameless associates were ruined, establishment figures, like Nicholls were protected.

He also says that Vassall was coerced into the role after being drugged and raped by Russian agents during his time in Moscow.

“There was a lot of collateral damage in this and was a very unpleasant homophobic witch hunt,” he said.

“It’s probably one of the reasons why the story has been forgotten about.

“It’s not a story that anyone’s particularly proud of. Vassall himself was a tragic victim and the British state did not behave well, neither did the media.”

He also believes the witch-hunt served as a cover up for ‘woeful’ security failings at the Admiralty exposed by the scandal.

“For a seven-year period, maybe not every day but certainly every week, Vassall would leave the office on Whitehall carrying secret documents in a briefcase or a rolled-up newspaper,” Alex explained.

“He would take them back to his flat, photograph them or hand them over to his Russian handlers, and then return them to the filing cabinet the following day and no-one would have noted they were missing.”

Alex, who is now seeking to sell the film rights, will reveal more in a talk at Stamford Arts Centre on Thursday, September 26 at 7.30pm.

Copies of the book will be on sale, at £20 hardback, and Alex will be happy to sign them.

For tickets and more details, visit https://www.stamfordartscentre.com/whats-on