Colin Barrow

Colin Barrow (born 18 June 1952) is a millionaire hedge fund manager, local politician and Conservative Party donor. He is a co-founder of <http://www.cbarrow.com/politician.htm> created 28 April 2010. and former trustee of the right-wing think-tank Policy Exchange and was also a trustee of its now defunct sister organisation CChange, and Localis – a local government think-tank with which Policy Exchange is closely associated.
==Business==
Barrow was a commercial manager at the oil and gas engineering company John Brown Group from 1974 to 1983. Debrett’s People of Today, Colin Barrow, Esq, CBE [Accessed 28 April 2010] In 1983 he joined ED&F Man (later renamed the Man Group) which was moving into alternative investment management. Barrow became Managing Director of the company’s Funds Management Division. Debrett’s People of Today, Colin Barrow, Esq, CBE [Accessed 28 April 2010] Barrow says he ‘made his money with the Man Group, where he founded and ran their investment management business up to and through the Group’s flotation in 1994.’ Colin Barrow > Businessman [Accessed 28 April 2010] He left the Man Group in 1996 to become chairman of the London hedge fund Sabre Fund Management Group. Debrett’s People of Today, Colin Barrow, Esq, CBE [Accessed 28 April 2010] He held this position until 2005 when he left to chair his own hedge fund Alpha Strategic plc. Debrett’s People of Today, Colin Barrow, Esq, CBE [Accessed 28 April 2010]
==Politics and political donations and think-tanks==
upright|thumb|200px|8 Barton Street, formerly owned by Barrow, was the HQ for Michael Portillo’s 2001 Leadership campaign. The property was for a time the registered address of the think-tank Localis.|text-bottom
Barrow was a Conservative member of Suffolk County Council from 1997 and in 2002 joined Westminster City Council. He was appointed Deputy Leader of the Council in 2005, and Leader in 2008. Debrett’s People of Today, Colin Barrow, Esq, CBE [Accessed 28 April 2010] Westminster City Council has itself funded Policy Exchange research. The Council contributed £2,500 of public money to Policy Exchange for its report Hitting the Bottle in March 2009 and previously gave £1,175 to Policy Exchange in December 2003.Letter to Tom Mills, 25 March 2010.
In 2001 Barrow donated the use of his £10 million John Elliott, ‘Colin Barrow’, Sunday Times, 8 April 2007; p.2 town house at 8 Barton Street, Westminster to Michael Portillo’s leadership campaign. Andrew Pierce, ‘Bless this house: Portillo's spiritual home’, The Times, 15 June 2001 The use of the property was valued at £4,967. see Register of Members' Interests Session 2001-02 Dubbed ‘Portillistas’ by Westminster commentators, Portillo’s backers saw themselves as modernisers of an out of touch party which had put off potential voters through its negativity, xenophobia and social conservatism. Portillo withdrew from the Conservative leadership race on the evening of 17 July 2001 and subsequently announced that he would leave politics. His followers, Barrow included, founded a number of right-wing think-tanks to continue their re-branding exercise; chiefly Policy Exchange and CChange, but also Localis, which became closely affiliated with Policy Exchange.
Barrow has served as an executive/trustee of all three think-tanks. He was a director of Conservatives for Change or CChange (with the think-tank providing the initial funding for Policy Exchange through a £75,000 loanPolicy Exchange, Financial Statements made up to 30 September 2002, p.4) from October 2001 to August 2006, a trustee of Policy Exchange from July 2003 to January 2005 and a director of Localis from September 2001 to April 2007. He is reported to have provided funding to Policy Exchange and Localis Varya Shaw and Jon Hanlon, ‘Take me to your leaders’, Local Government Chronicle, 16 January 2003 and his former home at 8 Barton Road was Localis’s registered address until July 2003 when it was changed to 10 Storey's Gate, where Policy Exchange and Conservatives for Change were based. 
According to the Electoral Commission's Register of donations to political parties, Barrow donated a total of £30,750 to Conservative Central Office in three separate donations in 2004. Electoral Commission, Register of donations to political parties [Accessed 28 April 2010] In January 2007 Conservative Party, Cities of London & Westminster accepted a new donation from Barrow of £2,600. Electoral Commission, Register of donations to political parties [Accessed 28 April 2010]
Barrow is a co-founder of the Conservative City Circle, a group that strengthens communications between the Conservative Party and the City on economic matters. of <http://www.cbarrow.com/politician.htm> created 28 April 2010.
==Notes==
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