John Lewis (British politician) John Lewis (British politician) John Lewis (14 December 1912 – 14 June 1969) was a British Labour Party politician, who played a major part in the controversial arrest of society osteopath Stephen Ward, landlord of Christine Keeler in the Profumo affair of 1963. After making a fortune in industrial rubber, Lewis was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for the two-seat constituency of Bolton at the 1945 general election, and became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Postmaster-General. The constituency was divided in a boundary review for the 1950 general election, when he was returned as MP for the new Bolton
Profumo affair story to the national newspapers. The Radcliffe tribunal's ongoing inquiry into press behaviour during the Vassall case was making newspapers nervous, and only two showed interest in Keeler's story: the "Sunday Pictorial" and the "News of the World". As the latter would not join an auction, Keeler accepted the "Pictorial"s offer of a £200 down payment and a further £800 when the story was published. The paper retained a copy of the "Darling" letter. The "News of the World" then alerted Ward and Astor—whose names had been mentioned by Keeler—and they in turn informed Profumo. When Profumo's lawyers tried to