Inside the Profumo Affair - sex and spying scandal that brought down a Prime Minister

dailystar.co.uk:

Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson facing calls to resign over Partygate, many are being reminded of a previous controversy which took down a Tory PM - The Profumo Affair.Arguably one of the biggest scandals in British political history, the Profumo Affair led to jail sentences, suicide and the fall of a government.It took place in the 1960s, when the Conservatives held the office of the Prime Minister through Harold Macmillan.

John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Macmillan's government was found to have had an affair with 19-year-old model Christine Keeler beginning in 1961.Profumo denied the affair in the House of Commons, but was caught out when a police investigation uncovered the truth - leading to the public losing faith in the credibility of Macmillan's government.The disgraced minister was later snapped looking humiliated as he drove away from Parliament and out of politics.The Secretary of State had denied the affair repeatedly, telling his fellow MPs: "There was no impropriety whatsoever.”But his web of lies began to untangle when it emerged that Keeler had kept one of his love letters.Profumo had wrote: "Darling, In great haste because I can get no reply from your phone — alas something’s blown up tomorrow night...

I won’t be able to see you again until some time in September. Blast it. Please take care of yourself and don’t run away. Love J."On Tuesday June 4, 1963, Profumo confessed the truth to Timothy Bligh, Macmillan's private secretary and resigned from Parliament, with the official announcement coming a day later.Naturally, the affair was the talk of the country at the time, particularly when there were reports that Keeler had been having another fling with a Soviet naval agent,.