Early in December 1934 the Haileys left India for Kenya, where Sir Malcolm had intended to combine a fishing holiday with an introductory tour of eastern and southern Africa. In Delhi, however, on the way out, he agreed to represent the Government of India during the final passage of the new constitution through Parliament. Cutting the trip short, they arrived in London early in February. Almost at once Lady Hailey's health broke down and Ann Wright, a friend of Gemma's who had been serving as nurse-companion, had to be sent for. Wright would stay on until Lady Hailey's death from a heart attack in 1939. After that she would play the same role in Lord Hailey's life. Although there is no direct evidence, the fact that he worked and traveled with hardly a break throughout the late 1930s makes it likely that the last years of the marriage were distant and strained.

Seizing on every possible excuse – a threat from the princes to stay out of the federation, the Legislative Assembly's recent rejection of the budget, endless technicalities – Churchill and the diehards fought the new constitution clause by clause. The one benefit, Hailey wrote, was that by thoroughly boring the public the interminable debate had all but finished India as a live issue in British politics. Not until July 1935 was he able to secure his release from the India Office.