Joe Egerton: Is the Mandelson affair really comparable to the Profumo affair?
This deserves loud pushback.
Joe Egerton is a former Parliamentary candidate for Leigh who once worked for the Macmillan family.
The commentariat is drawing a comparison between the Profumo affair of 1963 and the Mandelson affair. It is important to start by recognising that the Profumo affair, although very damaging, did not bring about the fall of Macmillan. As it is often suggested that it did, the brief facts are as follows.
On 8th July 1961, Profumo, Secretary of State for War, was introduced to Christine Keeler “a very pretty girl and sweet” who had been swimming naked in the pool at Cliveden and was trying to cover herself with a skimpy towel. The next day there was “a light-hearted and frolicsome bathing party, where everyone was in bathing costumes and nothing indecent took place at all”. One of the party was Yevgeny Ivanov, nominally a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy but actually GRU.Profumo arranged to meet up with Christine Keeler. The two had a brief affair which ended before the New Year.
In 1963 the affair became fairly widely known. On 21 March 1963, George Wigg MP, Harold Wilson’s witch finder general, many years later to be convicted of kerb crawling, hinted at it in the Commons. That night Profumo was got out of bed and questioned by colleagues. On one account, Iain Macleod, the Leader of the House, asked Profumo outright: “John, did you fuck her?” The next day Profumo made a statement in the House denying “any impropriety”.
Rumours continued and on 4th June, during a short Commons recess, Profumo confessed to Macmillan’s Principal Private Secretary Tim Bligh who telephoned Macmillan who was in Scotland. Profumo resigned from the government and resigned his seat. The press had a field day. Family newspapers could safely recount a story of fun-loving attractive girls, a cabinet minister, the Russian Naval attaché, a leading member of the House of Lords (Lord Astor) and other rather shady individuals frolicking round the swimming pool at a great house. I was at prep school at the time and we had great fun piecing together a story parents judged not suitable for our innocent ears…
We can take up the story from Macmillan’s Diary and an entry written on 7 July recorded that on 17th June 1963 seventeen Conservative MPs abstained – a very large rebellion for those days. During the week there was a flood of rumours of widespread discreditable sexual behaviour involving numerous ministers. The Diary recorded that on 24th June “I had announced the appointment of Lord Denning to hold a judicial enquiry” and added “I hope that this will clear the ministers and make people a little ashamed of their behaviour” (Diaries, Page 572)
On 3rd August, Macmillan noted rumours that Denning would condemn (“or rather fail to clear…of scandalous conduct”) one important and …
This deserves loud pushback.
Joe Egerton is a former Parliamentary candidate for Leigh who once worked for the Macmillan family.
The commentariat is drawing a comparison between the Profumo affair of 1963 and the Mandelson affair. It is important to start by recognising that the Profumo affair, although very damaging, did not bring about the fall of Macmillan. As it is often suggested that it did, the brief facts are as follows.
On 8th July 1961, Profumo, Secretary of State for War, was introduced to Christine Keeler “a very pretty girl and sweet” who had been swimming naked in the pool at Cliveden and was trying to cover herself with a skimpy towel. The next day there was “a light-hearted and frolicsome bathing party, where everyone was in bathing costumes and nothing indecent took place at all”. One of the party was Yevgeny Ivanov, nominally a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy but actually GRU.Profumo arranged to meet up with Christine Keeler. The two had a brief affair which ended before the New Year.
In 1963 the affair became fairly widely known. On 21 March 1963, George Wigg MP, Harold Wilson’s witch finder general, many years later to be convicted of kerb crawling, hinted at it in the Commons. That night Profumo was got out of bed and questioned by colleagues. On one account, Iain Macleod, the Leader of the House, asked Profumo outright: “John, did you fuck her?” The next day Profumo made a statement in the House denying “any impropriety”.
Rumours continued and on 4th June, during a short Commons recess, Profumo confessed to Macmillan’s Principal Private Secretary Tim Bligh who telephoned Macmillan who was in Scotland. Profumo resigned from the government and resigned his seat. The press had a field day. Family newspapers could safely recount a story of fun-loving attractive girls, a cabinet minister, the Russian Naval attaché, a leading member of the House of Lords (Lord Astor) and other rather shady individuals frolicking round the swimming pool at a great house. I was at prep school at the time and we had great fun piecing together a story parents judged not suitable for our innocent ears…
We can take up the story from Macmillan’s Diary and an entry written on 7 July recorded that on 17th June 1963 seventeen Conservative MPs abstained – a very large rebellion for those days. During the week there was a flood of rumours of widespread discreditable sexual behaviour involving numerous ministers. The Diary recorded that on 24th June “I had announced the appointment of Lord Denning to hold a judicial enquiry” and added “I hope that this will clear the ministers and make people a little ashamed of their behaviour” (Diaries, Page 572)
On 3rd August, Macmillan noted rumours that Denning would condemn (“or rather fail to clear…of scandalous conduct”) one important and …
Joe Egerton: Is the Mandelson affair really comparable to the Profumo affair?
This deserves loud pushback.
Joe Egerton is a former Parliamentary candidate for Leigh who once worked for the Macmillan family.
The commentariat is drawing a comparison between the Profumo affair of 1963 and the Mandelson affair. It is important to start by recognising that the Profumo affair, although very damaging, did not bring about the fall of Macmillan. As it is often suggested that it did, the brief facts are as follows.
On 8th July 1961, Profumo, Secretary of State for War, was introduced to Christine Keeler “a very pretty girl and sweet” who had been swimming naked in the pool at Cliveden and was trying to cover herself with a skimpy towel. The next day there was “a light-hearted and frolicsome bathing party, where everyone was in bathing costumes and nothing indecent took place at all”. One of the party was Yevgeny Ivanov, nominally a naval attaché at the Soviet Embassy but actually GRU.Profumo arranged to meet up with Christine Keeler. The two had a brief affair which ended before the New Year.
In 1963 the affair became fairly widely known. On 21 March 1963, George Wigg MP, Harold Wilson’s witch finder general, many years later to be convicted of kerb crawling, hinted at it in the Commons. That night Profumo was got out of bed and questioned by colleagues. On one account, Iain Macleod, the Leader of the House, asked Profumo outright: “John, did you fuck her?” The next day Profumo made a statement in the House denying “any impropriety”.
Rumours continued and on 4th June, during a short Commons recess, Profumo confessed to Macmillan’s Principal Private Secretary Tim Bligh who telephoned Macmillan who was in Scotland. Profumo resigned from the government and resigned his seat. The press had a field day. Family newspapers could safely recount a story of fun-loving attractive girls, a cabinet minister, the Russian Naval attaché, a leading member of the House of Lords (Lord Astor) and other rather shady individuals frolicking round the swimming pool at a great house. I was at prep school at the time and we had great fun piecing together a story parents judged not suitable for our innocent ears…
We can take up the story from Macmillan’s Diary and an entry written on 7 July recorded that on 17th June 1963 seventeen Conservative MPs abstained – a very large rebellion for those days. During the week there was a flood of rumours of widespread discreditable sexual behaviour involving numerous ministers. The Diary recorded that on 24th June “I had announced the appointment of Lord Denning to hold a judicial enquiry” and added “I hope that this will clear the ministers and make people a little ashamed of their behaviour” (Diaries, Page 572)
On 3rd August, Macmillan noted rumours that Denning would condemn (“or rather fail to clear…of scandalous conduct”) one important and …
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