Profumo Affair and UK Cabinet Crisis

The Profumo affair was a major scandal in British politics during the early 1960s.^¹ John Profumo, the 46-year-old Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative government, had an extramarital affair with then 19-year-old model Christine Keeler beginning in 1961.^¹ Profumo denied the affair in a statement to the House of Commons in 1963; weeks later, a police investigation proved that he had lied.^¹ The scandal severely damaged the credibility of Macmillan's government, and Macmillan resigned as Prime Minister in October 1963, citing ill health.^¹ The fallout contributed to the Conservative government's defeat by the Labour Party in the 1964 general election.^¹