During the Profumo affair, in which Macmillan's government almost fell, Butler received a visit from Martin Redmayne (Chief Whip) and Lord Poole (Party Chairman) asking whether he would, in principle, be willing to serve in a Maudling government. Butler received a visit from Maudling in which the latter obtained a mutual promise that they would, if necessary, agree to serve under each other, Maudling believed that he had gained an advantage in obtaining the agreement of Butler, his senior, to serve under him if necessary. However, William Rees-Mogg claimed in "The Times" on 28 July that Butler led Maudling by 2:1 in the Cabinet although Maudling had more support amongst backbench MPs.