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James George Hargreaves (born 14 July 1957), known as George Hargreaves or J. G. Hargreaves, is a
religious minister In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidanc ...
, community worker,
political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
er, former leader of the Christian Party, former music producer, songwriter, TV producer and currently working as a Christian movie promoter, screenwriter and missionary.


Early life

Of Trinidadian descent, Hargreaves grew up in
Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...
. He is fifth out seven siblings. His life was saved by a
firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
who rescued him from his burning house when he was a child.Auslan Cramb,
Pop star preacher to fund firemen's gay pride battle
, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 1 November 2006
He was educated at
King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, the
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
, and at the
University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
.


Musical career

Hargreaves attended
Woolverstone Hall Woolverstone Hall is a large country house, now in use as a school and available at times as a function venue, located south of the centre of Ipswich, Suffolk, England. It is set in on the banks of the River Orwell. Built in 1776 for William Be ...
, a
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
owned by the
Inner London Education Authority The Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) was an ad hoc local education authority for the City of London and the 12 Inner London boroughs from 1965 until its abolition in 1990. The authority was reconstituted as a directly elected body corpor ...
. While still at school, he formed a band named Snapp with Tony Ajai-Ajagbe and three other school friends. In 1973 the band were signed by M&W Music Productions, which was owned by Dave Myers and John Worsley, writers of the 1971 UK Eurovision Song Contest entry "Jack in The Box" sung by Clodagh Rodgers. A single written by Myers and Worsley called "Cheat, Cheat" was released in 1974 on Cube Records. Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe developed their own songwriting skills and in 1977 they signed as Motown's
Jobete Music Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...
's only UK based songwriting team. Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe soon moved into producing. In the 1980s, Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe negotiated a label deal with Michael Levy's
Magnet Records Magnet Records was a British record label, started in 1973 by Michael Levy and Peter Shelley. It was acquired by Warner Bros. Records in 1988 for an estimated £10m. Artists on the label included Alvin Stardust, Stevenson's Rocket, Matchbox, ...
. Their label, Midas Records, was the first to release recordings by
Sinitta Sinitta Malone (born 19 October 1963), known mononymously as Sinitta, is an American-born British singer, actress and television personality. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single "So Macho" and had several ot ...
, which Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe wrote and produced. They were also the first to record
Yazz Yazz (born Yasmin Evans; 19 May 1960) is an English pop singer, who remains perhaps best known for her 1988 UK number one single " The Only Way Is Up". Some of her records are credited to Yazz and the Plastic Population. Career Yazz was born ...
as a member of the pop group The Biz. Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe wrote the 1983 season theme tune for the BBC1 daily magazine show ''
Pebble Mill at One ''Pebble Mill at One'' is a British television magazine programme that was broadcast live on weekdays at one o'clock on BBC1, from 2 October 1972 to 23 May 1986, and again from 14 October 1991 to 29 March 1996. It was transmitted from the Pebb ...
'' and the theme tune for the BBC2 show '' 655 Special'' hosted by
David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943) is an American-British actor and singer. He is known for his role as Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the television series ''Starsky & Hutch'' from 1975 to 1979; Joshua Bolt on ' ...
and Sally James. Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe also wrote the first single for
Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) are a British pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy Pearson. Between 1985 and 1988, Five Star had four top 20 albums and 15 top 40 singles in the UK ...
. called " Problematic". Hargreaves used his influence with the music producer of ''Pebble Mill at One'' to get Five Star on the show, which launched their career. The songwriting partnership between Hargreaves and Ajai-Ajagbe ended in 1983, shortly after they completed Sinitta's second single " Never Too Late". Tony Ajai-Ajagbe died of AIDS in 1995. Hargreaves continued to write songs on his own. He wrote and produced
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
's first hit with Sinitta, "
So Macho "So Macho" is a song by American-British singer Sinitta. The song was released in 1985 as her self-titled début album's second single. Song information Sinitta was both Simon Cowell's and Fanfare Records' first signing. Cowell had contacted re ...
". which went to number 2 twice on the UK chart in 1986.Lucy Bannerman,
One of these men is a Bible-thumping moralist, the other a gay activist, but which one wrote the hit So Macho?
, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 13 April 2007
He told ''
Scotland on Sunday ''Scotland on Sunday'' is a Scottish Sunday newspaper, published in Edinburgh by JPIMedia and consequently assuming the role of Sunday sister to its daily stablemate ''The Scotsman''. It was originally printed in broadsheet format but in 2013 ...
'' that "So Macho" was intended "... for women to dance round their handbags to and for the gay scene to go mad to on poppers" and that "I was never gay, but I had a lot of lovely friends in the gay scene."Kate Foster,
Reverend's disco hit funds electoral bid
, ''Scotland on Sunday'', 6 June 2004
Cowell went on to describe Hargreaves as a "well known songwriter" in his autobiography '' I Don't Mean to be Rude, but...''. Hargreaves topped the chart in Iceland with an Icelandic version of a Christmas song originally recorded, but never released, by Sinitta (with Simon Cowell singing Santa "Ho ho hoes" in the background vocals) The song "I Won't Be Lonely This Christmas" became
Heima Um Jólin
and was sung by Helga Möller. Hargreaves' first Top 50 chart hit was " Feel Like The First Time", which reached number 45 on the UK chart in August 1986, but faded fast when "So Macho" entered the top 50 some seven month after its initial release. " Feel Like The First Time" was however Sinitta's biggest hit in the US, going top ten in the ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales In the issue dated March 16, 1985, '' Billboard'' magazine debuted its first chart devoted exclusively to 12-inch Singles Sales. The 50-position weekly ranking joined ''Billboard''s established Club Songs chart, reduced to the same 50 positions, ...
chart. The song and the production of " Feel Like The First Time" was greatly influenced by
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's producer Steve Bray (writer and producer of Madonna's smash hit " Get Into The Groove". Bray also co-wrote and produced the song "
Baby Love "Baby Love" is a song by American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, ''Where Did Our Love Go''. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland and was released on September 17, 1964. ...
" with the US singer Regina who was signed to Hargreaves' US production company West 78th Street Records. Hargreaves worked on the mix of the "Baby Love" record and gained an insight into how to make 'Madonna sounding songs' and applied his new knowledge to Sinitta with " Feel Like The First Time". Regina's "Baby Love" reached number 9 on the US chart and was later covered by
Dannii Minogue Danielle Jane Minogue () is an Australian singer, television personality, and actress. She initially gained recognition for her appearances on the television show ''Young Talent Time'' (1982–1988) and for her role as Emma Jackson on th ...
.


Christian ministry and community work

In 1990 Hargreaves was ordained as a
Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement
minister under the auspices of the International Ministerial Council of Great Britain and served as an associate pastor at Edmonton Temple church in North East London. He taught New Testament Greek at Edmonton Temple's 'Word of Life' bible college. He studied for a Diploma in Christian Ministry at the International Bible Institute of London, where he gained a Distinction. He then obtained a BA Honours degree in Theology from London University's King's College and a Post-graduate Diploma in Theology from Oxford University. He then went on to win the first Studentship Award for Oxford University's newly formed Centre for Christianity & Culture. The award funded his studies for a master's degree in
Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
. As part of the conditions of the Studentship Award he also gave a series of lectures at the Centre for Christianity & Culture on the subject of the Black Majority Churches in Britain. He was also a member of the Black Theology in Britain group with Professor
Robert Beckford Robert Beckford (born 1965) is a British academic theologian and currently Professor of Black Theology at The Queen's Foundation, whose documentaries for both the BBC and Channel 4 have caused debate among the Christian and British religious co ...
and other black leading theologians. Hargreaves is an
Associate of King's College The Associateship or Associate of King's College (AKC) award was the degree-equivalent qualification of King's College London from 1833. It is the original qualification that King's awarded to its students. In current practice, it is an optional ...
(AKC). In 1994 Hargreaves married Maxine Williams, the founder and pastor of Hephzibah Christian Centre in Hackney, and he joined his wife in Christian ministry as co-pastor of the church. Hargreaves, apart from pastoring the Hephzibah Christian Centre with his wife Maxine, was also deeply involved in community work in North East London and elsewhere. Whilst studying at Oxford University from 1995-1997 Hargreaves served as an Associate Chaplain at Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre. He served as
Hackney Council Hackney London Borough Council is the local government authority for the London Borough of Hackney, London, England, one of 32 London borough councils. The council is unusual in the United Kingdom local government system in that its executive fu ...
's strategic partnership representative for the Christian community in Hackney. He was also employed as faith community manager for Waltham Forest Council and played a major role in maintaining good community relations with the Muslim community in the borough in the aftermath of the 2005 7/7 attacks in London. In mid-1997, whilst working as a project worker for the charity Hackney Employment Link Project, Hargreaves made a successful bid to the European Union's European Social Fund for funding to launch the LEAP adult literacy programme in Hackney. As lead teacher for the programme he taught many adults how to read. In 1998, again with European funding, Hargreaves launched the Hephzibah Intro-net Project, setting up two of the earliest cybercafes in London, one at Edmonton Green and the other at the New Deal Campus in Hackney. The project introduced unemployed young people to the Internet, website design and Wireless Application Protocol, which Hargreaves himself taught. From 2001 to 2004 Hargreaves edited the CANDL Light newsletter for
Barnardo's Barnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children. As of 2013, it raised and spent around £200 million each year running around 900 local services, aimed at helping these same group ...
Church and Neighbourhood Development in London Project. In 2004, Hargreaves and his wife, Maxine, founded the East London Christian Choir School in Hackney, an independent school which used the
Accelerated Christian Education Accelerated Christian Education is an American company which produces the Accelerated Christian Education (ACE, styled by the company as A.C.E.) school curriculum structured around a literal interpretation of the Bible and which teaches other ac ...
programme. Hargreaves served as Chair of the
Metropolitan Police Service The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...
's 'STOP & SEARCH Community Consultative Committee' under Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick. The committee revised the
Stop and Search Stop and search or Stop and frisk is a term used to describe the powers of the police to search a person, place or object without first making an arrest. A 2021 survey by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that minority ethnic ...
protocol for the Metropolitan Police only to see their work disregarded when the police were given new Stop & Search powers unde
section 44
of the
Terrorism Act 2000 The Terrorism Act 2000 (c.11) is the first of a number of general Terrorism Acts passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It superseded and repealed the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 and the Northern Ireland (Emer ...
. Hargreaves also served on the Metropolitan Police 'Operation Blunt' anti-knife crime committee and attempted to initiate a knife and gun bin programme in Waltham Forest and Hackney. Hargreaves no longer pastors a church, instead he now travels the world as a missionary focusing on empowerment through the creative arts. He recently developed a stage play with Ugandan actors in Uganda for the 2017 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has also been responsible for promoting Christian movies in the UK and across Africa, including ''Black Nativity'' (2013), ''God's Not Dead'' (2014) and ''
Selma Selma may refer to: Places *Selma, Algeria *Selma, Nova Scotia, Canada *Selma, Switzerland, village in the Grisons United States: *Selma, Alabama, city in Dallas County, best known for the Selma to Montgomery marches *Selma, Arkansas *Selma, Cali ...
'' (2014). Hargreaves is a regular commentator on BBC1's ''Sunday Morning Live'' show and appears from time to time on other news and current affairs programmes.


Political career

At the 1997 general election, Hargreaves stood as the
Referendum Party The Referendum Party was a Eurosceptic, single-issue political party that was active in the United Kingdom from 1994 to 1997. The party's sole objective was for a referendum to be held on the nature of the UK's membership of the European Union ...
candidate for
Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...
. In 2002, he joined the
Christian Peoples Alliance The Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) is a Christian rightist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was founded in its present form in 1999, having grown out of a cross-party advocacy group called the Movement for Christian Democracy. ...
(CPA) and served as the party's campaigns officer and acting chair of its Hackney branch. In 2004, he founded
Operation Christian Vote The Christian Party (also the Scottish Christian Party and Welsh Christian Party ()) is a minor political party in Great Britain. History The party originated as Operation Christian Vote, founded by George Hargreaves, a Pentecostal minister an ...
as an alternative to the CPA.Terry Kirby,
No charges for advert which blamed homophobic attacks on religion
, ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', 29 September 2006
The party stood only in the Scottish region at the
2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...
as Christian Peoples Alliances (CPA) were fielding no candidates in the region. Hargreaves then stood for the party at the
2004 Birmingham Hodge Hill by-election A by-election was held for the United Kingdom Parliament seat of Birmingham Hodge Hill, on 15 July 2004. The by-election was called following the resignation of Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP), Terry Davis, on 22 June 2004. Davis had bee ...
. At the 2005 general election in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, where he took 7.6% of the votes cast and beat the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
candidate. In 2006, Hargreaves renamed Operation Christian Vote the Christian Party (Proclaiming Christ's Lordship). The party was to be simply called the Christian Party, but the Electoral Commission objected, claiming that it might be confused with the Christian Democratic Party or the Christian Peoples Alliance; so the extra words "Proclaiming Christ's Lordship" were added. In Scotland the short form, Scottish Christian Party,Christianity is on party's agenda
,
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
, 20 April 2007
was permitted and Hargreaves stood under the name Scottish Christian Party in the
2006 Dunfermline and West Fife by-election The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was held on 9 February 2006, following the death of the sitting Labour MP Rachel Squire, on 6 January. The by-election was the first seat to change hands in the 2005 Parliament, when Willie Rennie won ...
, taking 1.2% of the vote. In November 2006 Hargreaves personally funded the
Employment Tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...
s of nine Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service firefighters who were suspended after refusing to distribute leaflets at a
gay pride LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to sham ...
march. The case was settled out-of-court. Hargreaves was also involved in protests against '' Jerry Springer: The Opera'', claiming that "Jerry Springer proved the greatest rallying point for Christian activism in the past 10 years".Stephen Armstrong,
Putting the fun into fundamentalism
, ''
Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', 23 July 2006
The Scottish Christian Party put up candidates in every region in the
2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fe ...
. Hargreaves also founded the
Welsh Christian Party The Christian Party (also the Scottish Christian Party and Welsh Christian Party ()) is a minor political party in Great Britain. History The party originated as Operation Christian Vote, founded by George Hargreaves, a Pentecostal minister and ...
to contest the
2007 National Assembly for Wales election The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Senedd, National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, as well as the ...
. Hargreaves stood for the Christian Party at the
2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election The 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election was a by-election held in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for constituency of Haltemprice and Howden. The by-election was triggered by the surprise and contr ...
, where he asked the Haltemprice and Howden electorate to use their vote to demand a referendum on the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, which he believes to be "the greatest threat to our civil liberties". In August 2008, Hargreaves fronted the Channel 4 programm
''Make Me a Christian''
He had planned to stand in the
Western Isles The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...
in the 2010 general election, but withdrew his candidacy in February 2010 after his wife's cancer returned. However, he stood as a candidate for
Barking Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...
in the 2010 general election and despite being terminally ill, his wife Maxine, stood as a candidate in Hackney. Maxine died of cancer in February 2011. In February 2015, Simon Gilbert of the
Coventry Telegraph The ''Coventry Telegraph'' is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as ''The Midland Daily Telegraph'' in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet ne ...
published that
UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest pa ...
had planned to select Hargreaves to stand as a candidate for Coventry South in the 2015 general election. However, Hargreaves had never joined UKIP, despite being courted by them on several occasions, and no such agreement had ever been reached to stand in Coventry South. In 2015, in recognition of his Christian ministry, community work and political leadership, Hargreaves was awarded an honorary doctorate in Christian Ministry from Excel University. Hargreaves has now retired from politics and no longer belongs to any political party.


Elections contested

UK Parliament elections Scottish Parliament elections (Electoral Additional Region) European Parliament elections


References


External links


J. G. Hargreaves discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargreaves, George 1958 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of Oxford Alumni of the University of St Andrews English Pentecostals English anti-abortion activists British political candidates English songwriters English record producers Referendum Party politicians English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Pentecostal pastors British political party founders Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom