John Profumo its defeat by Labour at the 1964 election. Macmillan had already gone by then, having resigned in October 1963 to be succeeded by Alec Douglas-Home. Profumo maintained complete public silence about the matter for the rest of his life, even when the 1989 film "Scandal" - in which he was played by Ian McKellen - and the publication of Keeler's memoirs revived public interest in the affair. Profumo was portrayed by Daniel Flynn in Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical "Stephen Ward", which opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 19 December 2013. Shortly after his resignation, Profumo was invited to work
Profumo affair persuade Keeler not to publish, the compensation she demanded was so large that Profumo's lawyers considered charges of extortion. Ward informed the "Pictorial" that Keeler's story was largely false, and that he and others would sue if it was printed, whereupon the paper withdrew its offer, although Keeler kept the £200. Keeler then gave details of her affair with Profumo to a police officer, who did not pass on this information to MI5 or the legal authorities. By this time, many of Profumo's political colleagues had heard rumours of his entanglement, and of the existence of a potentially incriminating letter.