John Profumo, the former British Conservative cabinet minister at the centre of one of the most notorious political scandals of the 1960s, has died. He was 91.
Mr Profumo died peacefully at midnight at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He suffered a stroke earlier in the week.
Speaking in Prague, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Mr Profumo was a politician with a glittering career who made a serious mistake.
Mr Profumo resigned as Minister of War in 1963 for lying to the House of Commons over his affair with a prostitute, Christine Keeler.
At the time, she was also involved with a military attaché at the Soviet embassy.
Mr Profumo was educated at Harrow and Oxford and later married the actress Valerie Hobson.
He entered the House of Commons after winning a bye-election in 1940 aged 25, becoming the youngest MP in the House.
He was made Secretary of State for War in July 1960 with a brief to boost army recruitment following the end of conscription.
His brief affair with the 19-year-old 'model' began after he was introduced to her by osteopath Dr Stephen Ward at Lord Astor's Cliveden country estate in Berkshire in July 1961.
Rumours about the affair became public in 1963, but Mr Profumo delivered a personal statement to MPs denying any impropriety whatever.
However, the revelation that Ms Keeler also had a relationship with Eugene Ivanov, the assistant naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy, turned the matter from a scandal to a security issue.
After three months of rumours and allegations, Mr Profumo finally admitted that he had lied to parliament about the affair and tendered his resignation in June 1963.
