John Lennon 'was closet conservative and fan of Reagan' - He is still revered around the world as a peace-loving working class hero.

But by the time he died, John Lennon was a closet conservative embarrassed by his radical past, according to his former personal assistant.

Fred Seaman claims that the former Beatle was a fan of Ronald Reagan, who went on to become America’s Republican president in 1981 and forged a close political alliance with Margaret Thatcher.

Altered image: Fred Seaman, John Lennon's former personal assistant says his private personality was rather different to his public persona

‘John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on [Democrat] Jimmy Carter,’ he says in a documentary film.

Seaman worked for Lennon during the year leading up to the star’s death in December 1980 aged 40.

He tells Beatles Stories filmmaker Seth Swirsky that in his final months Lennon was not the left-wing militant worshipped by many of his fans.

‘He was a very different person back in 1979 and 80 than he’d been when he wrote Imagine,’ he says.

‘By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy’s naivete.

Last day: John Lennon signing an autograph on an album cover for his killer Mark Chapman on December 8 1980 the day he was shot dead

‘He’d met Reagan back, I think, in the 70s at some sporting event.

'Reagan was the guy who had ordered the National Guard, I believe, to go after the young [peace] demonstrators in Berkeley, so I think that John maybe forgot about that.

‘He did express support for Reagan, which shocked me.’

Honeymoon: John Lennon and Yoko Ono Bed-In for Peace in 1969, Amsterdam, Netherlands

He adds: ‘I also saw John embark in some really brutal arguments with my uncle, who’s an old-time communist. He enjoyed really provoking my uncle.

'Maybe he was being provocative but it was pretty obvious to me he had moved away from his earlier radicalism.’

Lennon’s anti-war songs had not endeared him to Richard Nixon’s previous Republican administration and the FBI kept him under surveillance in 1971 after he met peace activists in New York.

Family confidante: Fred Seaman with John Lennon's first wife Cynthia

The U.S. immigration service tried unsuccessfully to deport him a year later.

Lennon’s radicalism and support of left-wing causes were well-known. He and wife Yoko staged ‘Bed-Ins for Peace’ after getting married in 1969.

He wrote the anti-Vietnam war anthem Give Peace a Chance, sided with Glaswegian shipyard workers and backed the IRA.

Another political song that became famous was Working Class Hero.

Driving force: Paul McCartney provided the backbone to the Beatles, according to assistant Tony Bramwell

Seaman, 58, was forced to apologise in court to Lennon’s widow in 2002 after he was accused of stealing hundreds of the star’s personal photographs and letters.

In the documentary, the group’s long-time assistant, Tony Bramwell, says he is convinced the Beatles would not have recorded so many classics in their later years had it not been for Paul McCartney because Lennon was often too lazy to make it into the studio. McCartney drove the band on to make new recordings. ( dailymail.co.uk )