Michael Bishop
Sir Michael Bishop is a British businessman and a Conservative life peer. He was executive chairman of British Midland until he sold his stake in the airline to Lufthansa on 1 July 2009 for a reported £223m, boosting his estimated personal fortune of £280 million [1] to over nearly £500 million.
Bishop was also Deputy Chairman of Airtours plc, a Non-Executive Director of Kidde plc and Chairman of Channel 4 Television from 1993-97.[2]
On 1 February 2011, Bishop was created a life peer as Baron Glendonbrook, of Bowdon in the County of Cheshire, and was introduced in the House of Lords on 22 March 2011,[3] where he sits as a Conservative.
Labour and Tory donor
According to the MP's Register of Financial Interests:
- Henry Bellingham - in March 2010 Bishop gave him £25,000 for help with responsibilities as Shadow Minister for Justice. [4]
- David Willetts - in February 2010 gave him £35,000 to support the work of his office as Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, to pay annual salary of research assistant.
In 1999 Bishop attended the £350-a-head gala dinner at the Bournemouth Pavilion ballroom during the 1999 Labour Party Conference. The dinner raised £250,000 for the Labour Party. Sir Michael Bishop was a former Tory supporter, who lent planes to John Major's election campaign[5].
British Midland gave more than £5,000 in sponsorship to the Labour Party in 1999-2000[6]
Donations
Bishop donated £50,000 on 3 June 2016 to Britain Stronger in Europe, the pro-EU campaign which failed to deliver a 'Remain' vote in the UK's EU membership referendum on 23 June 2016. [7]
Affiliations
- Trustee, Michael Bishop Foundation
- Trustee, Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia
- Trustee, Imperial War Museum Foundation
- European Advisory Panel, member
- The In Campaign, donor
References
- ↑ Sunday Times Rich List, "Sir Michael Bishop". The Times (London), 27 April 2008. Acc 2 November 2008
- ↑ Queen's University Belfast Honorary Graduands 2002 Accessed 4 Sep 2007
- ↑ House of Lords Minute of Proceedings for 22 March 2011.
- ↑ House of Commons, REGISTER OF MEMBERS’ FINANCIAL INTERESTS as at 6 September 2010
- ↑ The Times; Home; 29 Sep 1999; 'Blair dinner raises Pounds 250,000 and eyebrows' Andrew Pierce and Tom Baldwin
- ↑ Financial Times; National News; 5 Sep 2000 'Campaigns put Labour in the red Politics Four Elections Prove a Strain of Party Coffers' Andrew Parker
- ↑ Electoral Commission, The In Campaign Donations, accessed 29 June 2016
