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 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.