| Michael Levy, Baron Levy |
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| english music managers | |
| labour party politicians uk | |
| english jews | |
| english philanthropists | |
| life peers | |
| people from stoke newington | |
| 1944 births | |
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EARLY LIFE Born in Hackney , East London , to immigrant parents of modest means, Levy was educated at Hackney Downs Grammar School, making his fortune during the 1960s and 1970s as an Impresario , managing singers such as Alvin Stardust and Chris Rea . He founded Magnet Records , which gave the public the popular 1970s/80s Ska band Bad Manners . POLITICAL LIFE A resident of Mill Hill and close friend and Tennis partner of Tony Blair , Levy ran the Labour Leader's Office Fund to finance Blair's campaign before the 1997 General Election and received substantial contributions from such figures as Alex Bernstein and Robert Gavron , both of whom were ennobled by Blair after he came to power. Levy himself was made a Life Peer in 1997 as Baron Levy, of Mill Hill in the London Borough Of Barnet . He is a supporter of '', 8 November , 2005 . He was appointed President of The Council of the Specialist Schools And Academies Trust in September 2005. Fundraising for Labour Known as "Lord Cashpoint" to some in the media and politics, he is a leading fundraiser for the Labour Party and was central to the " Cash For Peerages " controversy of March 2006, in which it was revealed that the Labour party had raised £14 million in loans from private individuals who were later nominated for peerage titles. Unlike political donations, loans do not have to be declared. He has suggested that he will stop his fundraising activities when Blair leaves office and is now believed to advocate the state funding of political parties. DONATIONS In 1997, Levy secured a £1m donation to Labour from Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone . When the government changed its policy to allow Formula One to continue being sponsored by Tobacco manufacturers, the Labour Party returned the donation. In 2000, Levy was criticised when it was revealed that he had paid only £5,000 tax during the financial year 1998–99—equivalent to that paid on a salary of £21,000. In an interview at the time, repeated on BBC2 's '' Newsnight '' on 16 March 2006, Levy stated that "Over the years I have paid many millions of tax. And, if you average it, each year it comes to many hundreds of thousands of pounds. In that particular year, I was giving my time to the Labour Party and the voluntary sector, and I just lived off of capital." PERSONAL Michael Levy is a pre-eminent fundraiser for charity. Simon Morris, director of Jewish Care , is quoted as saying that when it comes to fundraising, "there's no one better in the country." Levy's house was burgled in 2003 while he was out. His wife was tied up during the ordeal and was reported to be "very shaken" for a number of weeks afterwards. REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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