Stuart Polak
Conservative life peer (Lord Polak, 2015); director of Conservative Friends of Israel from 1989, now Honorary President; lobbyist
| Stuart Polak
| |
|---|---|
| Image |  Official House of Lords portrait, 2025 |
| Occupation | Member of the House of Lords; lobbyist; Honorary President of Conservative Friends of Israel |
| Known for | Director of Conservative Friends of Israel from 1989; life peer (Baron Polak) since 2015 |
Stuart Polak, Baron Polak CBE (known as Lord Polak), is a Conservative member of the House of Lords. Parliament lists him as a member since 2 October 2015.[1] Conservative Friends of Israel's history page says that he became its Director after the death of Michael Fidler in 1989, "was later awarded a CBE and life peerage by David Cameron" and "now serves as CFI's Honorary President".[2] In 2008 Polak was the director of Conservative Friends of Israel, a post he had held since 1989, and a partner in two Westminster based lobbying firms - The Westminster Connection (TWC) and Kesher Strategy, as a result of which he was known as an 'effective behind-the-scenes lobbyist.'[3]He is listed in the Telegraph's "The Right's 100 Most Influential" in 2007[4] and the "Top 100 most influential Right-wingers" 2010,[5] as well as the Jewish Chronicle's "Power 100" in 2008,[3]
According to Polak's Telegraph profile:
- Polak regularly takes leading Conservatives on trips to Israel to educate them. The sceptics invariably return, if not indoctrinated, fully onside. A familiar face around the corridors of the Houses of Parliament, he has done more than most to promote Israel’s case to the right of British politics.[5]
According to his Kesher Strategy bio, Polak has led over 50 delegations of politicians to Israel.[6]
In October 2015, Polak signed a letter in The Guardian along with more than 150 people drawn from the arts and politics. The letter launched Culture for Coexistence, an organisation that opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.[7]
'General's for hire' allegations
The Sunday Times reported on Polak's double role as a lobbyist and head of Conservative Friends of Israel in October 2012:
- The two roles of Stuart Polak, director of Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), have emerged as a result of this newspaper’s exposé last Sunday of “generals for hire”. He denies any impropriety. As well as heading CFI, a significant party donor, Polak is a key figure in The Westminster Connection (TWC), a political consultancy. Clients of TWC include Elbit Systems, Israel’s defence electronics giant. Retired Lieutenant General Richard Applegate, Elbit’s British chairman, boasted of his own and TWC’s role in lobbying MPs on behalf of Elbit when he was secretly taped for last week’s report. He claimed that the consultancy could gain access “from the prime minister down”. Applegate was seeking an increase in British spending on helicopter safety, one of Elbit's specialisms.[8]
Affiliations
- Conservative Friends of Israel - Director, (1989 - )[9][3]
- Kesher Strategy - Partner
- The Westminster Connection - Partner[6]
- Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Insurance Brokers - Senior consultant
- Ladbrokes plc - consultant
- Marsh MacLennan - consultant
- Rotch Property Group - consultant
House of Lords
Parliament's Members API lists Lord Polak (The Lord Polak CBE) as a Conservative life peer whose membership of the House of Lords began on 2 October 2015.[1] It lists these committee memberships:
| Committee | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| EU Justice Sub-Committee | 26 May 2016 | 23 April 2020 |
| European Union Committee | 17 October 2018 | 15 July 2019 |
| EU Security and Justice Sub-Committee | 23 April 2020 | 31 March 2021 |
| Adult Social Care Committee | 19 January 2022 | 21 November 2022 |
| Domestic Abuse Act 2021 Committee | 27 January 2026 | – |
Parliament's Members API publishes the Register of Lords' Interests entries for each member. It lists 9 entries for Lord Polak, reproduced below as published.[10] The register's own dates are given for each entry; Powerbase has not checked the entries against any other source.
| Category | Entry as registered | First registered | Last amended |
|---|---|---|---|
| Category 1: Remunerated employment etc. | Director, Markham Services Limited (member’s company owned 50% by member and 50% by wife) (clients are registered below) | 22 October 2015 | 30 April 2026 |
| Category 1: Remunerated employment etc. | Senior Consultant, Marsh Ltd (insurance, reinsurance, employee benefits advice, brokerage and associated services) | 22 October 2015 | 23 February 2026 |
| Category 1: Remunerated employment etc. | Non-executive Director, Hi Bob (UK) Ltd (human resources) | 12 April 2018 | 5 April 2025 |
| Category 1: Remunerated employment etc. | Senior Consultant, Legacie Contracts Limited (property development) (remuneration is paid to Markham Services Limited) | 21 June 2022 | 7 April 2025 |
| Category 1: Remunerated employment etc. | Advisor, MK - Kliniken AG (health and care) (remuneration is paid to Markham Services Limited) | 12 December 2025 | 23 February 2026 |
| Category 1: Remunerated employment etc. | Consultant, Orient Property Inc (civil and industrial infrastructure development company) (remuneration is paid to Markham Services Limited) | 14 September 2026 | – |
| Category 2: Shareholdings etc. (a) | Markham Services Limited (member’s company owned 50% by member and 50% by wife) | 22 October 2015 | 5 April 2025 |
| Category 5: Overseas visits | Visit to Israel and West Bank, 4–9 October 2026, as part of fact-finding delegation; programme included visits to communities in southern Israel affected by 7 October 2023 attacks and Israel–Hamas war; meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials and politicians, Palestinian civil society representatives, NGOs and British Ambassador to Israel; flights, accommodation and hospitality paid by Cedarsoak Ltd | 14 October 2026 | – |
| Category 5: Overseas visits | Visit to Manama, Bahrain, 30 October–2 November 2026, to attend the IISS Manama Dialogue 2026, the regional security summit, as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain; flights and accommodation costs paid by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain | 4 November 2026 | – |
The entry for the October 2026 visit to Israel and the West Bank says that flights, accommodation and hospitality were paid by Cedarsoak Ltd. Companies House lists a Stuart Polak as a director of a company named Cedarsoak Ltd (09325933), and two other companies in the entries, Markham Services Limited and Hi Bob (UK) Ltd, also share names with companies in the Companies House table below. The register entries give no company numbers, so Powerbase has not confirmed that they are the same companies.
Conservative Friends of Israel
Companies House lists Polak as a director of Conservative Friends of Israel Limited (08114952), appointed on 21 June 2012.[11] CFI's history page describes a photograph of CFI's leadership team at its annual business lunch in 2025 as including "Directors Jeremy Brier KC, Julia Bekhor, Adam Cannon and Lord Polak CBE".[2] See Conservative Friends of Israel.
September 2017 meetings
In its report on Priti Patel's resignation as international development secretary on 8 November 2017, the BBC said of her meetings with Israeli officials in September 2017 (with Gilad Erdan at Westminster on 7 September and with Yuval Rotem in New York on 18 September): "It is thought Lord Polak, honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel, was present at both meetings."[12]
Companies House appointments
Companies House lists ten appointments for an officer named Stuart Polak, in nine companies (the West Connection Limited appears twice, as director and as secretary).[13] The identification with this Stuart Polak rests on the record including Conservative Friends of Israel Limited, whose directors CFI's history page names as including Lord Polak CBE; only company names, roles and dates are reproduced here. Companies House does not check the accuracy of the information filed.
| Company | Company status | Role | Appointed | Resigned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hi Bob (UK) Limited (10568577) | Active | Director (active) | 1 April 2018 | – |
| Cedarsoak Ltd (09325933) | Active | Director (active) | 25 November 2014 | – |
| Conservative Friends of Israel Limited (08114952) | Active | Director (active) | 21 June 2012 | – |
| Markham Services Limited (06777819) | Active | Director (active) | 21 December 2008 | – |
| The West Connection Limited (06425360) | Dissolved | Director and secretary (both from the same date) | 13 November 2007 | – |
| The Lubavitch Multi-Academy Trust (11211005) | Active | Director (resigned) | 16 February 2018 | 8 November 2019 |
| Yavneh Foundation Trust (04443267) | Active | Director (resigned) | 24 February 2006 | 31 March 2017 |
| Forum for Jewish Leadership Limited (07453042) | Active | Director (resigned) | 26 November 2010 | 29 July 2012 |
| Hertsmere Jewish Primary School Trust (03323105) | Active | Director (resigned) | 24 February 1997 | 27 September 2005 |
Companies House names "The West Connection Limited", not "The Westminster Connection", and Powerbase has not established that the two are the same business.
Contact
Organisation website: Conservative Friends of Israel
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 UK Parliament, Members API: Lord Polak (member 4547), biography, and synopsis, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Conservative Friends of Israel, History, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jewish Chronicle, "The JC Power 100: Numbers 81 - 90", Jewish Chronicle, 5 September 2008, accessed on 16 December 2010
- ↑ Telegraph, "The Right's 100 Most Influential: 50-26", Telegraph, 2 October 2007
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Telegraph, "Top 100 most influential Right-wingers: 100-76", Telegraph, 3 October 2010
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kesher Strategy LLP, ben-tovim.com, accessed 14 October 2012.
- ↑ Harriet Sherwood, 'Star authors call for Israeli-Palestinian dialogue rather than boycotts', The Guardian, 22 October 2015, accessed 23 October 2015
- ↑ Insight Double role of a top Tory lobbyist: The head of Conservative Friends of Israel also represents an arms firm Sunday Times, 21 October 2012 accessed 28 October 2012
- ↑ CFI, "About CFI", Conservative Friends of Israel, accessed on 15 December 2010
- ↑ UK Parliament, Members API: Lord Polak (member 4547), registered interests, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, Conservative Friends of Israel Limited (08114952): officers, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ BBC News, Priti Patel quits cabinet over Israel meetings row, 8 November 2017, accessed 11 November 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, POLAK, Stuart, Lord: personal appointments, accessed 11 November 2026.