Philip Charles Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham (born 15 September 1942), is an English businessman and politician. A prominent Conservative Party donor, before switching to Labour in 2024, Harris is a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He is the sponsor of a large

multi-academy trust Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) or academy chain is an academy trust that operates more than one academy school. Academy schools are state-funded schools in England which are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local aut ...

, the

Harris Federation Harris Federation is a multi-academy trust of 52 primary and secondary academies in and around London. They are sponsored by Philip Harris (Lord Harris of Peckham). Description With 52 academies in London and Essex, the Harris Federation educat ...

Interests

Business

Harris is currently an advisor and shareholder of Tapi Carpets, a flooring retailer set up recently by a number of the old Carpetright management team. Harris was the Chairman of Carpetright plc and has over fifty years' experience in carpet retailing. Harris left Carpetright in 2014, sold all of his shares and he is no longer associated with the company. He was chairman and chief executive of Harris Carpets. Harris Carpets acquired Queensway in 1977 to become Harris Queensway plc until the company was taken over in 1988. Harris was also a non-executive director of Great Universal Stores plc for 18 years, retiring from the GUS Board in July 2004. Harris became a non-executive director of

Matalan Matalan Retail Ltd is a British clothing and homewares retailer based in Knowsley, Merseyside, founded by John Hargreaves in 1985. In August 1988, its operations director at the time, Duncan Sullivan, transformed Matalan into an out-of-town wa ...

in October 2004.

Football

He was appointed to the board of

Arsenal Football Club The Arsenal Football Club, commonly known as simply Arsenal, is a professional association football, football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, North London, England. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of ...

as a non-executive director in November 2005.

Equestrian interests

Harris is the co-owner of the horse Hello Sanctos, which won a gold medal with

Scott Brash Scott Brash MBE (born 23 November 1985) is a Scottish showjumper. He began riding the horse Hello Sanctos in early 2012. They competed as part of the British Team at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London winning a gold medal in the team jumping ...

in the team show jumping event at the London

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Harris won a second gold medal in the team show jumping with Scott Brash in the 2024 Paris Olympics, this time on Hello Jefferson. Harris and Lord Kirkham bought Hello Sanctos for an estimated €2 million at the start of 2012. They are also co-owners of the horses Hello Sailor, Hello Unique and Hello Boyo.

Politics

Conservative Party donations

Harris has been a donor to the Conservative Party since the 1980s and was a great admirer of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

. He also made

donations A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blo ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

as leader of the Conservative Party and

Michael Gove Michael Andrew Gove, Baron Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician and journalist who served in various Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet positions under David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rish ...

Comments on Theresa May

In a September 2017 interview with ''The Times'' he described

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

as very indecisive, hopeless during the general election campaign which she should have won easily, and leading a weak, directionless government. Other comments made included his opposition to an expansion of grammar schools, May u-turning on too many decisions such as the so-called dementia tax, and the Home Office not reducing net migration to the tens of thousands as repeatedly promised. Harris spoke about potential candidates on who could succeed May as Conservative Party Leader.

Harris Federation academies

He has contributed extensively to education and as a result, many schools and colleges (such as

Harris Manchester College, Oxford Harris Manchester College (HMC) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarianism, Unitarian students and moved to ...

) bear his name. Through the

, many secondary schools in South London have received Harris donations. In the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough, borough in South London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of and had a population of 397,741 as of mid-2023, making it the most populous London borough. It is London's southernmost ...

, he helped to found the

Harris City Technology College Harris City Academy Crystal Palace is a mixed-sex secondary school and sixth form in Croydon, south London, England. It was established in 1990 to replace Sylvan High School, a newly built mixed comprehensive school which had opened in 1974. Syl ...

Harris Academy South Norwood Harris Academy South Norwood is a city academy in South Norwood, London, for students of both sexes aged 11–18. The school was designated as a Business and Enterprise College by the Department for Education and Skills when it was formerly cal ...

and Harris Academy Merton, Harris Academy Purley, Harris Academy Chafford Hundred, Harris Academy Peckham although many local residents are angered that the original name of the Harris Academy South Norwood, Stanley Technical High School, was dropped in place of the Harris name. In recent years, the forced change to academy status has placed additional schools under the management of the Harris Federation despite considerable opposition from Boards of Governors and parents.

Personal life

''Sunday Times'' Rich List

Harris ranked 206th in the ''Sunday Times'' Rich List, with an estimated wealth of £285m.

Honours

Harris was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in 1985. He was made a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Harris of Peckham, in the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council ...

on 11 January 1996. His wife, Pauline, was created a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris of Peckham, Philip Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham British businesspeople Arsenal F.C. directors and chairmen Fellows of King's College London Knights Bachelor 1942 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) donors People associated with Harris Manchester College, Oxford Life peers created by Elizabeth II