The Lord Paul | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Born | Swraj Paul (1931-02-18)18 February 1931 Jullundur, Punjab Province, British India |
| Died | 21 August 2025(2025-08-21) (aged 94) London, England |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Political party | Labour (1996–2010) |
| Children | 4, includingAngad Paul |
| Member of theHouse of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 9 October 1996 – 21 August 2025 | |
Swraj Paul, Baron Paul,PC (18 February 1931 – 21 August 2025) was an Indian-born British business magnate and philanthropist. In 1996 he was appointed a Labourlife peer under Conservative Prime MinisterJohn Major,[1] and sat in theHouse of Lords as a non-affiliated peer with the titleBaron Paul, ofMarylebone, in theCity of Westminster.[2] In December 2008 he was appointeddeputy speaker of the Lords; in October 2009 he wasappointed tothe Privy Council.[3]
According to his official biography, Swraj Paul was born inJullundur, Punjab Province, in 1931, in what was thenBritish India. His father Payare Lal ran a smallfoundry, making steel buckets and farming equipment. His mother's name was Mongwati. The site of his childhood home is nowApeejay School.[4]
Swraj Paul completed hishigh school education at Labbu Ram Doaba School. Paul was educated atForman Christian College inLahore, andDoaba College inJalandhar. He went to the United States to studymechanical engineering, obtaining BSc, MSc and MechE degrees from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.[1]
After leaving MIT, he returned to India to work for the family business, Apeejay Group, which was founded by his father, and was, at the time, managed by his two older brothers, Satya Paul and Jit Paul.[citation needed]
In 1966 he relocated to the United Kingdom to obtain medical treatment for his young daughter, who hadleukaemia.[5] He spent a year grieving her death, after which he founded Natural Gas Tubes.[1] Starting with one steel unit, he went on to acquire more. This led to his founding theCaparo Group in 1968, which became one of the UK's largest steel conversion and distribution businesses, manufacturing an extensive range of structural steels, precision tube, spirally welded tube, special bar qualities, industrial wires, cold rolled strip and spring steel strip. Lord Paul stepped down from the management of the Caparo Group in 1996.[6]
Up until Autumn 2015, Caparo employed over 10,000 people across North America, Europe, India and, the Middle East. In October 2015, 16 of the 20 limited companies that formed most of Caparo Group UK collapsed into administration,[7] and on 8 November his sonAngad Paul, the Group's CEO, died in an apparently suicidal fall from his eighth-floor penthouse flat.[8][5]
Lord Paul held many public positions. In 2006, as part of his parliamentary work, he made a declaration of interest;[9] he was involved with more than a dozen organisations outside his family business and foundation. Thisfoundation, named in memory of his daughter,[10] channels profits from Caparo India into charitable endeavours.[11] For example, Paul was an honorary patron of theZoological Society of London and funded major projects at theRegent's Park site, including the Ambika Paulchildren's zoo.[12]
In 2020, $5 million was donated to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for "The Swraj Paul Theatre" at theKresge Auditorium.[13]
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The Foundation has established the Ambika Paul School of Technology in Jalandhar, India.
Lord Paul held thePro-Chancellorship ofThames Valley University from 1997 to 2000, and the Chancellorship from 2000 to 2001.[5]
He was theChancellor of theUniversity of Wolverhampton from 1998 until his death in 2025.[14][5] In 2010 thestudent union centre was renamed "The Ambika Paul Student Union Centre", following his donation towards its refurbishment.[15] In 2015 he gave, through his family foundation, £1 million, the largest single donation in the university's history.[16]
Lord Paul was Chancellor ofUniversity of Westminster,[9][17] from 2006 to 2014; his foundation donated £300,000 to establish the Ambika P3 event and exhibition space.[18]
He sat onMIT's Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee between 1998 and 2001, when he established the Ambika Paul Mezzanine and Study Space, and the Swraj Paul Scholarship fund for undergraduate and graduate students.
Lord Paul was a member of the President's Cabinet forChapman University inOrange, California.[19]
Lord Paul took an interest in international relations. He was appointed by the government to act as an ambassador for British business from 1998–2010.[20] He was a member of theForeign Policy Centre Advisory Council.[21] He contested for the chairmanship of theCommonwealth Parliamentary Association, with an agenda to reduce the gap between the West andthe East.[citation needed] Lord Paul was Co-Chairman of the Indo-British Roundtable from 2000 to 2005.[22][23] He was a member of Panel 2000, an appointment by the Prime Minister to re-brand Britain.[24]
Lord Paul donated £500,000 to the Labour Party,[25] being the largest donor toGordon Brown's leadership campaign[1] and offering in 2007 to give "as much as [he] can afford" in the case of an early election.[26] He was also close to the former UK Prime Minister's wife,Sarah Brown,[17][27] for whom he showed paternal concern. Lord Paul was chairman and trustee of Theirworld and chairman Theirworld Projects Ltd (formerly PiggyBankKids) from 2002 to 2015; the charity was founded by Sarah Brown.[28]
He was the firstperson of Indian origin to hold the post ofdeputy speakerof the House of Lords,[29] one of twelve people in that post.[30] He was sworn of thePrivy Council on 15 October 2009.[31][32]
Lord Paul was involved with theLondon Olympics from its inception; he was a member of the board responsible for the 2005 submission of thebid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. He travelled to Singapore as part of the bidding team that successfully persuaded theInternational Olympic Committee to award the games to London for 2012.[33] He chaired the Olympic Delivery Committee, part of theLondon Development Agency, with the job of obtaining the land on which to build the new venues, and delivering the land on time and on budget. (SeeLegacy of the 2012 Summer Olympics.)[citation needed]
In October 2009,The Sunday Times reported that Lord Paul had been unable to satisfactorily explain claiming expenses of £38,000 for the period January 2005 to July 2006. Lord Paul immediately requested the Clerk of the Parliaments to investigate his expenses at the same time repaying £41,982, instead of £26,988, £15,000, more than the House of Lords would have requested at the conclusion of their investigation. A refund of the difference was never issued by the House of Lords. TheMetropolitan Police opened an investigation concerning these expense claims,[34] but by the end of February 2010 concluded there was no case. Lord Paul appeared before various committees for Lord's Conduct with ultimately the Privileges Committee concluding that Lord Paul had not acted dishonestly or in bad faith. They did determine however that he had been negligent and acted in ignorance and that his actions did render him liable to sanction by the House."[35] Lord Paul's suspension was for four months. Lord Paul completely disagreed with their finding, calling it "unreasonable." Lord Paul gave a Speech in the House of Lords in June 2011 calling for reform and revision of the structure of the constitution.
Paul tendered his resignation as Deputy Speaker to the Lord Speaker on 1 November 2010. His letter, printed inThe House Magazine a week later, expressed his reservations about the process, calling it "a sad saga for parliamentary democracy – an unfortunate series of events having evidently been inspired by the electoral politics of the media". He spoke on this topic many times after the expenses scandal initially made news,[36] and maintained that no wrongdoing had occurred in his case.[37][38]
During the period between the 2019 and 2024 general elections, he claimed £100,946 inallowances; this was despite the fact that he "did not speak, write or hold a committee or government post, and voted only once".[39]
Lord Paul was on theSunday Times Rich List as the 38th richest person in Britain,[40][41] although he claimed to takepublic transport in London "like everybody else".[6] From the 1960s he lived inPortland Place, incentral London.[1] He and his family owned a dozen flats in the block, each worth close to £1,000,000.[41]
His sonAngad Paul, CEO ofCaparo plc, died after falling from his Marylebone penthouse flat on 8 November 2015. A police statement stated they considered there to be no suspicious circumstances.[42][43]
Lord Paul died in London on 21 August 2025, at the age of 94.[44]
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Lord Paul received various awards and honours including 15 honorary degrees from universities in the UK, US, India, Russia and Switzerland. In 1983 he was awarded thePadma Bhushan, byIndira Gandhi, thePrime Minister of India,[46] and the Bharat Gaurav award by theIndian Merchants' Chamber. Freedom of the City of London, 1998; Asian Business Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008; Donald C. Burnham Manufacturing Management Award, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, USA, 1995; First Asian of the Year Award, Asian Who's Who, 1987; Asian Woman Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008.[47] PowerBrands Hall of Fame nominated him Global Indian of the Year, 2011.[citation needed] Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Corporate Leadership Award, 1989.[citation needed]
He was awarded "International Indian of Decade" for his outstanding achievements in the fields of industry, education and philanthropy at the 20th anniversary of the publication of India Link International, a monthly magazine in November 2013.[48]
In 2014, Lord Paul was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Black Country Asian Business Association for his "outstanding achievements in the fields of industry, education and philanthropy".[49] In 2014, he received a further Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his work in promoting India-UK educational ties from the Global Skill Tree consortium,an India Based think tank, which hopes to promote India as a global hub of international education through its "Great Place to Study – India" initiative.[50]
In July 2014, Lord Paul was given the "International Icon of the Decade Award" by the World Consulting Research Corporation at its Global Indian Excellence Summit in London, in recognition of "his outstanding achievements in the fields of manufacturing, education and philanthropy".[51]
In April 2018, Lord Paul received two awards during a trip to India: the IOD Golden Peacock Award For Lifetime Achievement in Business Leadership and the Global Punjabi Society Lifetime Achievement Award.[52]
In May 2018, Lord Paul was given the Int+ WCRC International Iconic Leader Award for Lifetime Achievement, at the UK & Asia Business Awards ceremony in London.[53]
In October 2018, he was awarded the Mahatma Gandhi Honour by the NRI Institute in celebration of their 30th anniversary.[54]
In June 2019, he was awarded an honorary Fellowship by the Zoological Society of London.[55]
In August 2020, Lord and Lady Paul were invited to become members of the MIT Charter Society in recognition of their philanthropic commitment to MIT.[citation needed]
In November 2024,Lord Paul received top honour atAsian Business Awards Hosted by theAsian Media Group.
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