John Dennis Profumo ( ; 30 January 1915 – 9 March 2006) was a British politician whose career ended in 1963 after a sexual relationship with the 19-year-old model
Christine Keeler in 1961. The scandal, which became known as the
Profumo affair
The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s. John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with the 19-year-old model ...
, led to his resignation from the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
government of
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...
.
After his resignation Profumo worked as a volunteer at
Toynbee Hall, a charity in
East London
East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...
,
The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
The Profumo affair in context
and became its chief fundraiser. These charitable activities helped to restore his reputation and he was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in 1975.
Early life and career
Profumo was born in
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London, the son of
Albert Profumo, a diplomat and barrister of Italian ancestry, who died in 1940. He attended
Harrow School
Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...
and
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...
. Whilst at Oxford Profumo was a member of the
Bullingdon Club.
In 1933, "Jack" Profumo began a long-term relationship with a German student, Gisela Klein, who later became a model and subsequently worked for German intelligence in Paris, and eventually married an American called Edward Winegard. Secret Service papers state Profumo also wrote to Winegard while he was an MP.
On 1 July 1939, Profumo was commissioned into the
Royal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...
as a
second lieutenant.
He had previously been a member of the
Officer Training Corps and a Cadet Sergeant while at Harrow.
He served in North Africa with the
Northamptonshire Yeomanry as a Captain (
acting
Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode.
Acting involves a broad range of sk ...
major
Major most commonly refers to:
* Major (rank), a military rank
* Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits
* People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames
* Major and minor in musi ...
), where he was
mentioned in dispatches.
He landed in
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
on
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
and was engaged in the subsequent fierce fighting to secure that region of France. His final rank in the British Army was
brigadier
Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...
.
On 21 December 1944, Major (temporary
Lieutenant Colonel) Profumo was appointed an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE, Military Division) "in recognition of gallant and distinguished service in Italy",
specifically, for his service on
Field Marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...
Sir Harold Alexander's staff commanding the
15th Army Group. In November 1947, Acting
Colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
Profumo was awarded the
Bronze Star Medal
The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious a ...
by the United States "in recognition of distinguished services in the cause of the Allies".
Political career
In 1940, while still serving in the Army, Profumo was elected to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
as a Conservative
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Kettering
Kettering is a market town, market and industrial town, industrial town in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, west of Cambridge, England, Cambridge, southwest of Peterborough, southeast of Leicester and north- ...
in
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...
at a
by-election on 3 March.
Shortly afterwards he voted against the
Chamberlain government in
the debate following the British defeat at
Narvik
() is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...
in Norway. This defiance on Profumo's part enraged the
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
I ...
,
David Margesson, who said to him "I can tell you this, you utterly contemptible little shit. On every morning that you wake up for the rest of your life you will be ashamed of what you did last night." Profumo later remarked that Margesson "couldn't have been more wrong".
Profumo was then the youngest MP and, by the time of his death, he had become the last surviving former member of the 1940 House of Commons. At the
1945 election, Profumo was defeated at Kettering by the
Labour candidate,
Dick Mitchison. Later in 1945, he was chief of staff to the British Mission to Japan. In 1950, he left the Army and, at the
general election in February 1950, he was elected for
Stratford-on-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-west of ...
in
Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...
, a safe Conservative seat.
Profumo was a well-connected politician with a good war record and, despite Margesson's aforementioned outburst, was highly regarded in the Conservative Party. Those qualities helped him to rise steadily through the ranks of the Conservative government elected in 1951. He was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Civil Aviation in November 1952, Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation in November 1953, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in January 1957, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office in November 1958, and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in January 1959. In July 1960, he was appointed
Secretary of State for War
The secretary of state for war, commonly called the war secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, which existed from 1794 to 1801 and from 1854 to 1964. The secretary of state for war headed the War Offic ...
(outside of the Cabinet) and was sworn of the
Privy Council. In 1954, he married the actress
Valerie Hobson.
The Profumo affair
In July 1961, at a party at
Cliveden, home of
Viscount Astor, John Profumo met
Christine Keeler, a 19-year-old model with whom he began a sexual relationship. The exact length of the affair between Profumo and Keeler is disputed, ending either in August 1961 after Profumo was warned by the security services of the possible dangers of mixing with the
Ward circle
Ward Circle is a traffic circle at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues in Northwest, Washington, D.C. The circle, totaling , is owned and administered by the National Park Service through its Rock Creek Park unit. On three s ...
, or continuing with decreasing fervour until December 1961. Since Keeler had also had sexual relations with
Yevgeny Ivanov, the senior naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy, the matter took on a national-security dimension.
In December 1962, a shooting incident in London involving two other men who were involved with Keeler led the press to investigate her, and reporters soon learned of her affairs with Profumo and Ivanov. But the British tradition of respecting the private lives of British politicians, for fear of libel actions, was maintained until March 1963, when the Labour MP
George Wigg, claiming to be motivated by the national-security aspects of the case, and taking advantage of
Parliamentary privilege
Parliamentary privilege is a legal immunity enjoyed by members of certain legislatures, in which legislators are granted protection against civil or criminal liability for actions done or statements made in the course of their legislative duties ...
, which gave him immunity from any possible legal action, referred in the House of Commons to the rumours linking Profumo with Keeler. Profumo then made a personal statement in which he admitted he knew Keeler but denied there was any "impropriety" in their relationship and threatened to sue if newspapers asserted otherwise.
Profumo's statement did not prevent newspapers publishing stories about Keeler, and it soon became apparent to Macmillan that Profumo's position was untenable. On 5 June 1963, Profumo was forced to admit that he had lied to the House in March when he denied an affair with Keeler, which at that time was an unforgivable offence in British politics. Profumo resigned from office and from the Privy Council, and applied for and was appointed to the role of
steward of the Chiltern Hundreds to give up his Commons seat.
Before making his public confession, Profumo confessed the affair to his wife, who stood by him. It was never shown that his relationship with Keeler had led to any breach of national security.
The scandal rocked the Conservative government, and was generally held to have been among the causes of its defeat by Labour at the
1964 election. Macmillan had already gone by then, having resigned in October 1963 on health grounds to be succeeded by
Alec Douglas-Home
Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...
.
Profumo maintained complete public silence about the matter for the rest of his life, even when the 1989 film ''
Scandal
A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...
''—in which he was played by
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...
—and the publication of Keeler's memoirs revived public interest in the affair.
Profumo was portrayed by
Daniel Flynn in
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...
's stage musical ''
Stephen Ward'', which opened at the
Aldwych Theatre on 19 December 2013.
He was portrayed by
Ben Miles in the 2019/2020 BBC drama ''
The Trial of Christine Keeler'' and by Tim Steed in the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
The Crown
The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
'', where the Profumo Affair is part of the plot for season 2, episode 10 – "Mystery Man".
Later life
Shortly after his resignation, Profumo was invited to work at
Toynbee Hall as a volunteer by
Walter Birmingham, who was a warden there. Toynbee Hall is a charity based in the
East End of London, and Profumo continued to work there for the rest of his life, becoming Toynbee Hall's chief fundraiser, and using his political skills and contacts to raise large sums of money. All this work was done as a volunteer, since Profumo was able to live on his inherited wealth.
His wife, the actress
Valerie Hobson, also devoted herself to charity until her death in 1998.
In the eyes of some, Profumo's charity work redeemed his reputation. His friend, social reform campaigner
Lord Longford, said he "felt more admiration
or Profumothan
orall the men I've known in my lifetime".
Profumo was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE, Civil Division) in the
1975 Birthday Honours, and received the honour at a
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
ceremony from Queen
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
, signalling his return to respectability. In 1995, former Conservative Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
invited him to her 70th birthday dinner, where he sat next to the Queen. He appeared only occasionally in public, particularly in his last years when he used a wheelchair. His last appearance was at the memorial service for
Sir Edward Heath on 8 November 2005.
Death and tributes
On 7 March 2006, Profumo suffered a
stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
and was admitted to London's
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He died two days later surrounded by his family, at the age of 91. After his death, many commentators said that he should be remembered as much for his contribution to society after his fall from political grace as for the scandal of 1963 which caused that fall. He was cremated at
Mortlake Crematorium; his ashes were buried next to those of his wife at the family vault in front of St Peter's Church in
Hersham.
References
External links
1963 Denning Report – Parliament & the 1960s – UK Parliament Living Heritage*
FBI file on John ProfumoBBC – Former Tory minister Profumo dies''Daily Telegraph'': Extracts from ''Bringing the House Down'' by David Profumo (son)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Profumo, John
1915 births
2006 deaths
Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
Barons in the Peerage of Sardinia
British Army brigadiers
British Army personnel of World War II
Secretaries of state for war (UK)
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Military personnel from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Ministers in the Eden government, 1955–1957
Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964
Ministers in the third Churchill government, 1951–1955
Northamptonshire Yeomanry officers
People educated at Gibbs School
People educated at Harrow School
People from Kensington
People who resigned from the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Royal Armoured Corps officers
UK MPs 1935–1945
UK MPs 1950–1951
UK MPs 1951–1955
UK MPs 1955–1959
UK MPs 1959–1964
Politicians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea