John Dennis Profumo

John Dennis Profumo 1915-2006, British politician. After studying at Harrow and Oxford, he entered Parliament as a Conservative member in 1940 and left in 1945 for an appointment as chief of staff in Japan. Returning to Parliament in 1950, he held several posts, becoming (1960) Harold Macmillan 's secretary of state for war. He resigned from the cabinet in 1963 after lying to the House of Commons about his affair with teen-age prostitute Christine Keeler, who was also involved with a Soviet naval attaché. Thereafter dedicating himself to philanthropy, he was named Commander of the British Empire in 1975 for his charitable work.

Profumo affair, the events surrounding the resignation of the British Conservative politician John Profumo (1915– ), British Conservative politician, as Secretary of State for War. In 1963 news broke of his relationship with the mistress of a Soviet diplomat, Christine Keeler, raising fears of a security breach. He resigned after it became apparent that his formal denial of the relationship to the House of Commons could not stand.

Profumo Affair A British political scandal which suggested that national security might have been breached. The person at the centre of the affair was John Profumo, the Minister of War. In March 1963, he had told Parliament that he had not had any ‘improper’ relationship with a call-girl, Christine Keeler. In June, it emerged that she had been his mistress, while having a similar relationship with Lieutenant-Commander Yevgeny Ivanov, an assistant naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy in London. In response to the public outcry that followed, Profumo resigned from Parliament. The resulting inquiry by Lord Denning concluded that national security had not been compromised. However, the affair weakened Prime Minister Macmillan, who was criticized for not having investigated Profumo fully, and it contributed to an atmosphere of sleaziness and decadence at the end of a long period of Conservative government (1951–64).