Labour Leader's Office Fund
Encyclopedia
The Labour Leader's Office Fund was a blind trust
established and run by Lord Levy to finance Tony Blair
's work in opposition before the 1997 General Election
. Contributors to it included the millionaire
s Sir Trevor Chinn, Sir Emmanuel Kaye
, Alex Bernstein and Bob Gavron, the latter two of whom later received peerage
s.
Blind trust
A blind trust is a trust in which the fiduciaries, namely the trustees or those who have been given power of attorney, have full discretion over the assets, and the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling...
established and run by Lord Levy to finance Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's work in opposition before the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. Contributors to it included the millionaire
Millionaire
A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. It can also be a person who owns one million units of currency in a bank account or savings account...
s Sir Trevor Chinn, Sir Emmanuel Kaye
Sir Emmanuel Kaye
Sir Emmanuel Kaye was a millionaire British industrialist and philanthropist. He was also a member of the CBI council from 1976 to 1989, and its financial policy committee from 1985 to 1992...
, Alex Bernstein and Bob Gavron, the latter two of whom later received peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
s.
Quotes about the fund
- "While it does not necessarily follow that the scheme was anything other than the model of probity, there is at least an argument that Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd GeorgeDavid Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
knew its father." -- David OslerDavid OslerDavid Osler is a British author, journalist and blogger. He was educated at Wellingborough Grammar School, City of London Polytechnic and the London School of Economics....
, author of Labour Party PLC: New Labour as a Party of Business. (Lloyd George was infamous for selling honours in the early 20th century.)
External links
- Taking It On Trust -- lengthy extract from David Osler's book about Levy and the fund