Ray Mawby
Raymond Llewellyn Mawby (6 February 1922
Early life and political career
Mawby was educated at
Mawby was a
He became
"Laval"
Following access by the BBC to previously secret files held by the current Czech Republic security services, it was revealed on 28 June 2012 that Mawby, who was given the code name "Laval", had spied for the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic during the Cold War. He received £100 (equivalent to £2,270 in 2021) per nugget of information, and even signed a receipt for one payment.[4] He handed over handwritten floor plans of the Prime Minister's office in the House of Commons, and details of who provided security at the office. He also promised to ask questions in the House on behalf of his paymasters.
During the decade that Mawby supplied information he handed over lists of parliamentary committees, and details about his fellow politicians, including a supposedly confidential parliamentary investigation into a Conservative peer. Meetings sometimes took place three or four times in a month, although this greatly decreased by the end of the 1960s, and ended completely in November 1971.
There is no indication in MI5's authorised history that they knew of Mawby's spying activities, and he is the only Conservative MP known to have spied for a Communist government.[5]
See also
References and sources
- References
- ^ "Obituary: Raymond Mawby". The Times. No. 63766. 24 July 1990. p. 14.
- ^ Alleyne, Richard (28 June 2012). "Tory minister spied for Communists in the House of Commons". The Daily Telegraph. London.
- ^ "Late Night Lineup: Man Alive". BBC Archive. 14 June 1967. Archived from the original on 22 April 2019.
- ^ "Ray Mawby: Ministers to seek other side of story about 'spy'". BBC News. 28 June 2012.
- ^ Corera, Gordon (28 June 2012). "Tory MP Raymond Mawby sold information to Czech spies". BBC News. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- Sources
- Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Ray Mawby