Fifty years ago, John Profumo resigned as Secretary of State for War following revelations of an affair with Christine Keeler — who was allegedly also involved with a Soviet spy. At the time, the affair was seen to represent the pinnacle of sleaze and contempt for the British establishment, and turned out to be hugely damaging to the Conservative government led by Harold Macmillan.
Digging through the archives in the basement of Old Queen Street, The Spectator’s leader from the 13 June 1963 issue, entitled ‘What are we?’, perfectly portrays the shock of the Profumo affair. It also speaks of the malaise hanging over Britain at the time and the immediate impact for those in Westminster, including the Prime Minister:
‘Men do not cease to be men when they become Ministers. Certainly the Profumo affair has not clarified issues themselves, but the reaction to it has shown that there are issues demanding clarification. If we were confused before, muddled about values and standards, uncertain of where we were and where we were going, we had not as a society grasped it.
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