Peter Andrew Cruddas, Baron Cruddas (born 30 September 1953) is an English
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
and businessman. He is the founder of online trading company
CMC Markets. In the 2007
Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...
, he was named the richest man in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...
, with an estimated fortune of £860 million.
[ As of March 2012, ]Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
estimated his wealth at $1.3 billion, equivalent to £830 million at the time.
Cruddas was appointed 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 ...
co-treasurer in June 2011.[ In March 2012 it was alleged by '']The 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 ...
'' that he had offered access to the Prime Minister David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
and the Chancellor George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
, in exchange for cash donations of between £100,000 and £250,000.[ Cruddas resigned the same day.][
In June 2013, Cruddas successfully sued ''The Sunday Times'' for ]libel
Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
over its coverage of him, which the High Court found had been defamatory. However, in March 2015, an appeal court reduced the libel damages from the original £180,000 to £50,000, ruling that the ''Sunday Timess central allegation around "cash for access" had been borne out by the facts, while also ruling that a series of subsidiary allegations made in the same ''Sunday Times'' article were still false and defamatory.
In December 2020, it was announced he would be conferred a life peerage
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...
after a nomination
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In the ...
by Prime Minister Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
, despite the contrary advice of the House of Lords Appointments Commission
The House of Lords Appointments Commission is an independent advisory non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It has two roles:
*to recommend at least two people a year for appointment as non-party-political life peers who sit on the ...
, which unanimously recommended that the Prime Minister rescind his nomination. It was later reported that he donated £500,000 to the Conservative Party days after being elevated to the House of Lords.
Early life
The son of a father who worked at Smithfield Market
Smithfield, properly known as West Smithfield, is a district located in Central London, part of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London, England.
Smithfield is home to a number of City institutions, such as St Bartho ...
, Cruddas has an elder brother John and a twin brother Stephen, both of whom became taxi drivers. Born in the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney
The Metropolitan Borough of Hackney was a Metropolitan boroughs of the County of London, Metropolitan borough of the County of London from 1900 to 1965. Its area became part of the London Borough of Hackney.
Formation and boundaries
The borough ...
, the boys initially lived on the Bracklyn Court Estate, before moving to Vince Court when the twins were six.[ Cruddas states his membership of the ]Boy Scouts
Boy Scouts may refer to:
* Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement.
* Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement.
* An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are ...
as the reason for his early success, who taught him self-discipline and self-confidence:[
]
Career
He left Shoreditch Comprehensive with no qualifications, aged 15, and gained a job as a telex operator for Western Union
The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company chang ...
in the City of London. After being made redundant, he worked in the foreign currency
A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins.
A more general def ...
trading rooms of various banks, including the Bank of Iran and Marine Midland
Marine Midland Bank was an American bank formerly headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with several hundred branches throughout the state of New York. In 1998, branches extended to Pennsylvania. It was acquired by HSBC in 1980, and changed its ...
.[
By 1989, Cruddas was the head ]foreign exchange
The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all as ...
dealer at the City of London branch of the Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
ian-based Petra Bank
Petra Bank was a Jordanian bank. It began in 1956 when Prince Hassan bin Talal, the Crown Prince of Jordan approached Ahmad Chalabi, an Iraqi economist while the latter was teaching at the American University of Beirut to launch a new Jordanian ba ...
. He left the same year to set up his own business, starting CMC Markets with £10,000 in the bank. CMC Markets is currently valued at between £750 million and £1.2 billion.[
Cruddas is the largest individual donor to the ]Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...
International Association, a board member of the Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...
, and has donated to Great Ormond Street Hospital
Great Ormond Street Hospital (informally GOSH or Great Ormond Street, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children) is a children's hospital located in the Bloomsbury area of the London Borough of Camden, and a part of Great Ormond Street Hospit ...
.
Cruddas supported the Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...
and The Royal Ballet
The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...
, and after becoming a member of the Chairman's Circle, in March 2012 was invited to become a Trustee and join the Board of the Royal Opera House.[
]
Politics
In total, it is believed that Cruddas has donated over £3,000,000 to 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 ...
. On 31 July 2013 on the BBC's ''Newsnight'' programme he stated that he had donated over £1,000,000. He donated £100,000 in the last quarter of 2010 and £50,000 in the first week of the 2010 general election campaign.[ ''The Sunday Times'' reported that on 5 February 2021, a week after he received a peerage, Cruddas' donations topped £3 million.
Cruddas was appointed Conservative Party co-treasurer in June 2011 alongside ]Lord Fink
Stanley Fink, Baron Fink (born 15 September 1957) is a British hedge fund manager and politician, who was formerly CEO of Man Group plc. A member of the Conservative Party, he has been a life peer in the House of Lords since 2011.
Early life
...
, effectively the party's chief fund raiser, in succession to billionaire property tycoon David Rowland.
In March 2012 it was alleged by ''The 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 ...
'' that he had offered access
Access may refer to:
Companies and organizations
* ACCESS (Australia), an Australian youth network
* Access (credit card), a former credit card in the United Kingdom
* Access Co., a Japanese software company
* Access Healthcare, an Indian BPO se ...
to the Prime Minister David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
, and the Chancellor George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...
. ''The Sunday Times'' had secretly filmed Cruddas allegedly discussing what level of access different size donations led to: "£200,000 to £250,000 is Premier League – things will open up for you – you can ask him practically any question you want." Cruddas resigned the same day.
The undercover journalists were introduced to Cruddas by Sarah Southern, a lobbyist who is David Cameron's former aide. The undercover reporters posed as overseas financiers and claimed that their clients intended to buy distressed government assets and wanted to make political connections.
In July 2012, the ConservativeHome
ConservativeHome is a British right-wing blog which supports, but is independent of, the Conservative Party. It was first established by Tim Montgomerie in 2005 with the aim of arguing for a broad conservative spectrum, which is serious about bo ...
blog reported that Cruddas was suing ''The Sunday Times'' for libel over its coverage of him. In June 2013, the High Court ruled in his favour and found that ''The Sunday Times'' articles had been defamatory. He was awarded £180,000 in damages on 31 July. However, in March 2015, all three judges of an appeal court ruled that the central allegation of the ''Sunday Times's'' story – that Crudas had offered "cash for access" to potential donors – was supported by the evidence, while they also ruled that a series of accompanying allegations made in the same ''Sunday Times'' article were still false and defamatory. Accordingly, they reduced the ''Sunday Times'' libel damages from £180,000 to £50,000.
In June 2019, Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
reported that Cruddas donated £50,000 to Boris Johnson's Conservative leadership campaign.
In 2020, Cruddas was nominated by the leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
for a peerage. The House of Lords Appointments Commission
The House of Lords Appointments Commission is an independent advisory non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom. It has two roles:
*to recommend at least two people a year for appointment as non-party-political life peers who sit on the ...
advised that it could not support his nomination. Johnson nonetheless decided that the appointment should proceed, becoming the first ever prime minister to overrule an advice of the commission.
On 27 January 2021 he was created Baron Cruddas, of Shoreditch in the London Borough of Hackney.
Following the resignation of Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
and the subsequent leadership election
A leadership election is a political contest held in various countries by which the members of a political party determine who will be the leader of their party.
Generally, any political party can determine its own rules governing how and when a l ...
, Cruddas led a campaign to place Johnson on the members' ballot, stating that the mass resignations leading to his resignation were "anti-democratic to the party and to the electorate." Cruddas is the president of the Conservative Democratic Organisation, a pro-Johnson pressure group in the Conservative Party founded in December 2022, with a stated aim to make the party "representative of the membership".
Personal life
Cruddas has four children, two from each marriage.[ His second wife is Fiona.
He is reported to have been a regular attendee of the Presidents Club Charity Dinner, an annual event for men only, where many hostesses were groped, propositioned and harassed.
Cruddas was resident in ]Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
for a period until March 2009, commuting daily from an apartment on Avenue des Spélugues to London City Airport
London City Airport is a regional airport in London, England. It is located in the Royal Docks in the Borough of Newham, approximately east of the City of London and east of Canary Wharf. These are the twin centres of London's financial ...
.[ In an interview in early 2011 he stated that he had: "A £10m apartment in Monaco, a £5m house in ]Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
, a house in Antibes
Antibes (, also , ; oc, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal, Antíbol) is a coastal city in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France, department of southeastern France, on the French Riviera, Côte d'Azur between Cannes and Nice.
The town of ...
, a yacht and a private jet."[ He plays ]golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
with a low handicap, composes quatrains
A quatrain is a type of stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines.
Existing in a variety of forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Persia, Ancient India, Ancient Greec ...
, and supports Arsenal F.C.[
In 2016, Cruddas and his wife Fiona paid £42 million in cash for Balfour House, a seven-storey Victorian mansion close to ]Park Lane
Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from ...
in London's Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, formerly owned by the Iranian-born art dealer Nasser Khalili
Sir Nasser David Khalili ( fa, ناصر داوود خلیلی, born 18 December 1945) is a British-Iranian scholar, collector, and philanthropist based in London. Born in Iran and educated at Queens College, City University of New York and the ...
, who lived there for 22 years.
References
External links
Peter Cruddas Foundation
CMC Markets
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruddas, Peter Andrew
1953 births
Living people
People from Hackney Central
English bankers
Businesspeople from London
English expatriates in Monaco
English philanthropists
British billionaires
Conservative Party (UK) officials
British Eurosceptics
Conservative Party (UK) donors
Conservative Party (UK) life peers
Life peers created by Elizabeth II