Controversial British minister dies at 91

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital said that Profumo, 91, died about midnight.

John Profumo, the Conservative politician who resigned from the British Cabinet in 1963 after lying to parliament about an affair with a call girl, died at a London hospital after suffering a stroke.

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Chelsea and Westminster Hospital said on Friday that Profumo, 91, died about midnight, surrounded by his family.

Profumo was a rising political star when he was named secretary of state for war in 1960, but his political career ended three years later over a sensational sex-and-spying scandal involving a call girl Christine Keeler.

She said she had sex with both Profumo and Russian intelligence officer Eugene Ivanov, the Soviet assistant naval attache in London. To fight the allegations, the married Profumo issued a statement to the House of Commons saying he had only a platonic relationship with Keeler.

Three months later, he admitted he had misled the House of Commons and resigned.

Profumo took up charity work after stepping down from his post.