The Lord Feldman of Elstree | |
|---|---|
| Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 11 May 2010 – 14 July 2016 Served alongside The Baroness Warsi(2010–2012) Grant Shapps(2012–2015) | |
| Leader | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Eric Pickles |
| Succeeded by | Patrick McLoughlin |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 17 December 2010 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1966-02-25)25 February 1966 (age 59) London, England, UK |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse | Gabrielle Gourgey |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Brasenose College, Oxford City Law School |
Andrew Simon Feldman, Baron Feldman of Elstree,PC (born 25 February 1966)[1] is a British barrister, businessman andConservative fundraiser and politician.
The Financial Times described Feldman as "David Cameron's oldest political friend" since their days together atBrasenose College, Oxford.[2] Feldman was responsible for fundraising David Cameron's successfulTory leadership campaign in 2005.
He was created alife peer by David Cameron in 2010, and thenChairman of the Conservative Party, first as co-chairman alongsideSayeeda Warsi and thenGrant Shapps between 2010 and 2015, then on his own as sole chairman from May 2015. His tenure ended after David Cameron's administration ended in July 2016.[3]
He was born into a Jewish family in London, the eldest son of Malcolm R Feldman (born 1939) and his wife Marcia J,née Summers (born 1944).[4] His paternal grandmother was of Austrian descent.
He married Gabrielle Gourgey in 1999; they have two sons and one daughter. They live in a townhouse inHolland Park, just round the corner from David Cameron's pre-Downing Street family home inNotting Hill.[5]
Feldman was educated atThe Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, anindependent school inElstree inHertfordshire, followed byBrasenose College at theUniversity of Oxford, where he was awarded a first-class degree injurisprudence. He went on to theInns of Court School of Law.
Whilst at Oxford, he played for the Brasenose College tennis team, where he became friends with Cameron andGuy Spier.[6] Feldman and Cameron together helped organise the college's May Ball in their second year. Feldman was chairman of the Ball committee, while Cameron booked the entertainment. Feldman has since remained a close confidant of Cameron, who gave him his own office inDowning Street.[7]
Feldman worked as amanagement consultant atBain & Co before beingcalled to the bar in 1991 and working as a commercial barrister at One Essex Court until 1995.
He subsequently worked for the family fashion firm, Jayroma (London) Ltd, serving as managing director and later chief executive.
He has donated to the Conservative Party through his company Jayroma the following amounts: £8,500 in 2008, £30,000 in 2009, £17,200 in 2010, £13,000 in 2011, £8,690 in 2012.[8]
With the encouragement and financial backing fromPhilip Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham, Feldman ran the operations andfundraising for David Cameron's2005 leadership bid for the Conservative party.[9]
Feldman himself gave £10,000 to Cameron's campaign from his family clothing company Jayroma and secured tens of thousands more from other business backers.
In July 2008 David Cameron promoted Feldman to Chief Executive of theConservative Campaign Headquarters, a key role in preparing the Tories for the2010 general election.
In October 2008, Feldman was embroiled in the"Yachtgate" scandal withGeorge Osborne. Both he and Shadow Chancellor Osborne were guests on billionaireOleg Deripaska's yacht offCorfu when Osborne was accused of soliciting a £50,000 donation to the party, which would have been a violation of the law against political donations by foreign citizens. This was when Feldman was Cameron's chief fundraiser. Both denied they had discussed soliciting donations from Deripaska, contrary to the claim made at the time byNathaniel Rothschild who organised the party event.[10]
In March 2016, Feldman was questioned by journalistMichael Crick about election expenses that may have broken the law.
After theConservatives entered government with the Liberal Democrats on 11 May 2010, Cameron appointed Feldman as the co-chairman of the party, withSayeeda Warsi.[11][12] His being given an office in Downing Street is a privilege never bestowed before on a party chairman.[7] One of his jobs was to strengthen the voluntary party and increase membership.[12]
On 17 December 2010, Feldman was created alife peer asBaron Feldman of Elstree, ofElstree in the County ofHertfordshire;[13] he wasintroduced in the House of Lords, where he sits as a Conservative, on 20 December 2010.[14]
In 2012, Feldman helped Cameron prepare for theLeveson Inquiry by roleplaying the lead counsel of the inquiryRobert Jay QC.
Feldman was severely criticised by one of his Conservative councillors, Catherine Faulks, for failing to vote for her in the2011 by-election for the Norland ward inKensington and Chelsea Borough Council. Feldman claimed at the time that he was prohibited from voting as a member of the House of Lords, although this was a misunderstanding.[15]
In May 2013, Feldman was widely attributed with making a claim that Conservative parliamentary rebellions on both a referendum onEuropean Union membership andsame sex marriage were due to Conservative Associations being "all mad, swivel-eyed loons", a claim that he has denied.[16] The alleged words were claimed to have been said on the evening of Wednesday 15 May[citation needed] during aConservative Friends of Pakistan event held inSt James's, central London.[17]
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A Conservative councillor, Catherine Faulks has criticised Lord Feldman, the party's co-chairman, for failing to vote for her in a local election
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Chair of the Conservative Party 2010–present Served alongside:The Baroness Warsi(2010–2012),Grant Shapps(2012–2015) | Succeeded by |
| Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Gentlemen Baron Feldman of Elstree | Followed by |
