John Stuart Wheeler (30 January 193523 July 2020) was a British

financier An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

, gambler and political activist. He made his fortune as the founder of the

spread betting Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting. ...

firm IG Index in 1974, but was best known for his political activism, being a major donor 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 ...

and treasurer of the

UK Independence Party 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 par ...

from 2011 to 2014.

Early life and career

Wheeler was adopted just before his second birthday by an American, Alexander Wheeler, a former Army officer and heir to a banking fortune, and his young wife Betty, daughter of a baronet, Sir John Gibbons. The couple also adopted a little girl, Susan, on the same day. Wheeler spent his early years growing up on the Leighon Estate in

Manaton Manaton is a village situated to the southeast of Dartmoor National Park, Devon, England. The 15th-century church, located in a prominent spot due north of the village green, is dedicated to St Winifred. Three of the six bells in its tower are ...

, Devon. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

. He did his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The ...

with the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. ...

, before studying at Christ Church, Oxford, from where he graduated with a second-class degree in law. He practised law as a barrister, before becoming an

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated with ...

. However, Wheeler found his niche through IG Index, which pioneered

. Originally, the company was launched to allow Britons to speculate on

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, when

foreign exchange controls Foreign exchange controls are various forms of controls imposed by a government on the purchase/sale of foreign currencies by residents, on the purchase/sale of local currency by nonresidents, or the transfers of any currency across national bor ...

made it exorbitantly expensive to actually buy it.

Politics

Conservative Party

Although a successful businessman, Wheeler was not a well-known figure nationally until he donated £5m to the

during the 2001 election campaign. This was, and remains, the largest single donation ever made to a political party in the United Kingdom. In January 2008, Wheeler brought an

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

against the government, represented by the

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 i ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony B ...

, and the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, over the government's process of ratification of the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

. The action sought to prevent the government from completing ratification of the treaty, on the grounds that it was illegal for a government to breach the public's legitimate expectation of adherence to manifesto and other commitments. The government, along with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, had pledged in their 2005 manifestos to hold a referendum on the

European Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

, which Wheeler held did not have "significant or material differences" from the Treaty of Lisbon. This action failed. Wheeler was seen as belonging to the

right wing Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...

of the Conservative Party. He supported

Liam Fox Liam Fox (born 22 September 1961) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for International Trade from 2016 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Defence from 2010 to 2011. A member of the Conservative Party, Fox has served as t ...

in the 2005 leadership contest, and switched his support to David Davis against David Cameron in the final run-off. He was critical of the leadership of David Cameron during its first few months. On 28 March 2009, Wheeler donated £100,000 to the

(UKIP) after criticising David Cameron's stance towards the Treaty of Lisbon and 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 de ...

. He said, "If they kick me out I will understand. I will be very sorry about it but it won't alter my stance." The following day he was expelled from the Conservative Party.

The Trust Party

On 29 March 2010, Wheeler announced that he was forming a new political party to be called the Trust Party and that he would run for the Bexhill and Battle seat. The seat was won by

Gregory Barker Gregory Leonard George Barker, Baron Barker of Battle, (born 8 March 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician and life peer. In May 2010 he was appointed Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, a role in which he served unti ...

for the Conservatives, but Wheeler polled 4.9% and therefore lost his deposit. The new party also fielded a candidate in Perth and North Perthshire, where it won 1.1% of the vote.

UKIP treasurer

In 2011, Wheeler was appointed treasurer of UKIP to spearhead fundraising in advance of the

2014 European elections Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

. His appointment was seen as a blow for the Conservatives because of his network of contacts.Woodhouse, Craig (10 January 2011)
"Former Tory donor named as Ukip's new treasurer"
''London Evening Standard''. Party leader

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Brexit Party (renamed Reform UK in 2021) from 2 ...

said the move would enable the party to "raise serious money" as a lack of funds was "holding them back".

Vote Leave co-treasurer

At the launch of the

Vote Leave Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leav ...

campaign for

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

in October 2015, Wheeler was reported to be one of the new group's three major donors, with Peter Cruddas and

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

; the three men were appointed as joint co-treasurers.

Personal life

Wheeler was called an "obsessive" gambler, taking a keen interest in card and risk games and having played

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

with

Lord Lucan Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared death in absentia, declared dead 3 February 2016), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer who di ...

on 6 November 1974, two days before his disappearance, and with Omar Sharif, as well as being a regular competitor in

World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker p ...

championships. His wife, photographer Tessa Codrington, died in 2016. They had three daughters, including model

Jacquetta Wheeler Jacquetta Lydia Wheeler (born 16 October 1981)
Retrieved and verified on 2009-09-15 is an ...

. In June 2020, Wheeler announced that he had stomach cancer with only "six months to live". He died a month later on 23 July 2020, aged 85, at

Chilham Castle Chilham Castle is a Jacobean manor house and keep in the village of Chilham, between Ashford and Canterbury in the county of Kent, England. The keep is of Norman origin and dates to 1174; the manor house was completed in 1616 for Sir Dudley Di ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, his home.

Footnotes

External links

Stuart's Wheeler's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Stuart 1935 births 2020 deaths 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesspeople Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford British financial businesspeople British investment bankers British people of American descent Conservative Party (UK) donors Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from stomach cancer English adoptees Members of the Freedom Association People educated at Eton College People educated at St. Aubyns School UK Independence Party donors