Anthony Bamford

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David Cameron, George Osborne and Anthony Bamford opening a JCB factory in India[1]

Anthony Bamford is the chairman of JCB and a member of the Midlands Industrial Council. He is one of the largest donors to the Conservative Party and has also donated money to the Taxpayers' Alliance.[2]

Background

Bamford is the son of Joseph Cyril Bamford, who founded the excavation machinery business JCB in 1945. The firm prospered in the postwar boom.[3]

Bamford has a brother Mark Bamford, who is a director of eight companies within the JCB Group and sits on the board of the Conservative Party Foundation. [4]

Business career

Anthony Bamford took over as head of JCB in 1975.[3]

Property

'W magazine reports:

In addition to the Gloucestershire stronghold [1'700 acre Daylesford], there’s a London mansion; a 4,200-acre estate in Staffordshire, known as Wootton; Heron Bay, the fabled Barbados home once owned by Ronald and Marietta Tree; and Château de Léoube, in Provence. At sea and in the air they are no less pampered: There’s the Virginian, their 240-foot yacht previously owned by John Kluge; the private jet; and one of the biggest private helicopters in England, a Sikorsky S-76 (Anthony uses it to commute daily to his factory in Staffordshire).[5]

Politics

Bamford was knighted by the Conservative Government in 1990.Cite error: Closing </ref> missing for <ref> tag

Bamford was a guest of Tony Blair at Chequers on 11 December 2004.[6]

The Independent reported in 2006:

"Anthony puts much of his success down to anti-union policies adopted at JCB over the years, and has spiritual reservations about Labour," says a political acquaintance. "But on a personal level, he finds Blair pretty charming, and is obviously happy with the direction he has taken the party in. It's a measure of the remarkable guy he is that he can be friends with Blair, Cameron, and the Prince of Wales, all at the same time."[3]

Bamford's name was withdrawn from a list of prospective Conservative peers in May 2010, amid claims that the decision was related to his tax affairs.[7]

Dinner at Downing Street with the Camerons

Affiliations

JCB | Taxpayers' Alliance | Conservative Party | Midlands Industrial Council| White's

External Resources

Notes

  1. Jamie Doward, Feud between Bamford brothers threatens to cast light on funding for Tories, the Guardian, 14-November-2010
  2. Robert Winnett and Holly Watt, Tories forced to name club of millionaire supporters, the Sunday Times, 15-October-2006
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford, Independent, 23 August 2006.
  4. Meet the Board: Mark Bamford Esq, Conservative Party Foundation website, acc 26 March 2011.
  5. James Reginato, Lady Bountiful, W Magazine, December 2007.
  6. Open House: The Prime Minister's guest list, Independent, 20 June 2005.
  7. Vikram Dodd, Conservatives confirm leading party donor withdrew from peerage list, The Guardian, 31 May 2010.