Stonehouse Cabinet Minister, Fraudster, Spy

In November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned. But then he reappeared, in Australia.

This is his extraordinary story.

The true story behind the 2023 ITV series, STONEHOUSE, starring Matthew Macfayden and Keeley Hawes.

'An extraordinary life . . . a vivid account' Telegraph

'Completely absorbing' CAROL ANN LEE, author of The Murders at White House Farm and A Passion For Poison

'I literally consumed the book in just a few hungry sittings . . . most definitely a must read' DR SALEYHA AHSAN, filmmaker and journalist, Cambridge

In November 1974, British MP and former cabinet minister John Stonehouse walked into the sea off a beach in Miami and disappeared, seemingly drowned.

Then he was found - on the other side of the world, in Australia - and his extraordinary story began to come to light: a Labour cabinet minister and a devoted family man; also in a long-term affair with his secretary, and a spy for the Czech State Security agency, who had committed fraud and attempted to fake his own death to escape catastrophic business failures.

Was it a mental breakdown as he later claimed? Or were there more sinister reasons for his dramatic disappearance?

This is the definitive biography of Stonehouse, written by Julian Hayes, who, as the son of Stonehouse's nephew and lawyer, Michael Hayes, is uniquely placed to tell the story of this charismatic but deeply flawed politician.