Editing Profumo affair (section)

{{Short description|1960s British political scandal}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
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| image1 = John Profumo.jpg 
| caption1 = [[John Profumo]]
| image2 = Christine Keeler op weg naar het gerechtsgebouw, Bestanddeelnr 915-5221 (cropped, retouched).jpg
| caption2 = [[Christine Keeler]]
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The '''Profumo affair''' was a major scandal in [[Politics of the United Kingdom|British politics]] during the early 1960s. [[John Profumo]], the 46-year-old [[Secretary of State for War]] in [[Harold Macmillan]]'s [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government, had an [[extramarital affair]] with the 19-year-old model [[Christine Keeler]] beginning in 1961. Profumo denied the affair in a statement to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1963; weeks later, a police investigation proved that he had lied. The scandal severely damaged the credibility of Macmillan's government, and Macmillan resigned as [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] in October 1963, citing ill health. The fallout contributed to the Conservative government's defeat by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in the [[1964 United Kingdom general election|1964 general election]].

When the Profumo affair was revealed, public interest was heightened by reports that Keeler may have been simultaneously involved with Captain [[Yevgeny Ivanov (spy)|Yevgeny Ivanov]], a Soviet [[naval attaché]], thereby creating a possible [[national security]] risk. Keeler knew both Profumo and Ivanov through her friendship with [[Stephen Ward]], an [[osteopath]] and socialite who had taken her under his wing. The exposure of the affair generated rumours of other sex scandals and drew official attention to the activities of Ward, who was charged with a series of immorality offences. Perceiving himself as a [[scapegoat]] for the misdeeds of others, Ward [[suicide|took a fatal overdose]] during the final stages of his trial, which found him guilty of living off the immoral earnings of Keeler and her friend [[Mandy Rice-Davies]].

An inquiry into the Profumo affair by a senior judge, [[Alfred Denning, Baron Denning|Lord Denning]], assisted by a senior civil servant, T.&nbsp;A. Critchley, concluded that there had been no breaches of security arising from the Ivanov connection. Denning's report was later described as superficial and unsatisfactory. Profumo subsequently worked as a volunteer at [[Toynbee Hall]], an [[East London]] charitable trust. By 1975 he had been officially rehabilitated, although he did not return to public life. He died, honoured and respected, in 2006. By contrast, Keeler found it difficult to escape the negative image attached to her by press, law, and [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]] throughout the scandal. In various, sometimes contradictory, accounts, she challenged Denning's conclusions relating to security issues. Ward's conviction has been described by analysts as an act of [[The Establishment|establishment]] revenge, rather than serving justice. In the 2010s the [[Criminal Cases Review Commission]] reviewed his case but decided against referring it to the [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|Court of Appeal]]. Dramatisations of the Profumo affair have been shown on stage and screen.