Profumo affair Party was marked by the scandal, which may have contributed to its defeat by the Labour Party in the 1964 general election. When the Profumo–Keeler affair was first revealed, public interest was heightened by reports that Keeler may have been simultaneously involved with Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché, thereby creating a possible security risk. Keeler knew both Profumo and Ivanov through her friendship with Stephen Ward, an osteopath and socialite who had taken her under his wing. The exposure of the affair generated rumours of other scandals, and drew official attention to the activities of Ward, who was
John Profumo Profumo was born in Kensington, London, the son of Albert, 4th Baron Profumo (Italy), a diplomat and barrister of Italian origin, who died in 1940. He attended Harrow School and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he read law and was a member of the Bullingdon Club. In the early 1930s, 'Jack' Profumo had a relationship with a German model, Gisela Winegard, who subsequently worked for German intelligence in Paris. Secret Service papers state Profumo also wrote to Winegard while he was an MP. On 1 July 1939 he was commissioned into the Royal Armoured Corps as a second lieutenant, service number