Anthony Bamford

Anthony Bamford is an English businessman and chair of JCB, one of the world's top three manufacturers of construction equipment. 
He is a member of the Midlands Industrial Council. 
He is a donor to right-wing causes: he is one of the largest donors to the Conservative Party; has donated money to the Taxpayers' Alliance; and gave money to the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.Robert Winnett and Holly Watt, Tories forced to name club of millionaire supporters, the Sunday Times, 15-October-2006 He is a board member of the Centre for Policy Studies.
==Involvement in UK politics==
thumb|right|400px|David Cameron, George Osborne and Anthony Bamford opening a JCB factory in IndiaJamie Doward, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/nov/14/bamford-court-feud-tory-funding Feud between Bamford brothers threatens to cast light on funding for Tories], the Guardian, 14-November-2010 Bamford was raised to the peerage in August 2013.
===Brexit donor===
Bamford is a Brexit supporter and gave £673,000 to the campaign for the UK to leave the EU, contributing to both the Vote Leave campaign and Grassroots Out through JC Bamford Excavators Limited.
===Conservative Party ties===
Bamford is one of the largest donors to the Conservative Party, giving £4.1 million to the Tories from 2010 to 2015.Revealed: How 13 new Conservative Lords since 2010 have given £23million to Cameron's party, Mailonline, 30 July 2015
As such, Bamford is a member of The Leader's Group, an elite Conservative Party supporter group which enables donors to secure access to leading party members and the prime minister through an annual membership fee of £50,000. Conservative Party, The Leader's Group guests 2012 quarter 4, accessed 25 February 2015 For example, he was a dinner guest of Prime Minister David Cameron in July 2010.
Bamford was knighted by the Conservative Government in 1990.Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford, Independent, 23 August 2006. His name was withdrawn from a list of prospective Conservative peers in May 2010, amid claims that the decision was related to his tax affairs.Vikram Dodd, Conservatives confirm leading party donor withdrew from peerage list, The Guardian, 31 May 2010.Three years later in August 2013 he was finally made a peer. Working peerages announced, Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street, press release, 1 August 2013 
===New Labour links===
Bamford was a guest of Tony Blair at Chequers on 11 December 2004.Open House: The Prime Minister's guest list, Independent, 20 June 2005.
The Independent reported in 2006:
::"Anthony puts much of his success down to anti-union policies adopted at JCB over the years, and has spiritual reservations about Labour," says a political acquaintance. "But on a personal level, he finds Blair pretty charming, and is obviously happy with the direction he has taken the party in. It's a measure of the remarkable guy he is that he can be friends with Blair, Cameron, and the Prince of Wales, all at the same time."Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford, Independent, 23 August 2006.
===No to AV===
Bamford donated money to the successful No2AV campaign against reform of the UK's first-past-the-post voting system in 2011. 
===Lobbying for lower taxes===
Bamford has financially supported the Taxpayers' Alliance, which campaigns for lower taxes. 
In December 2005, Bamford was one of a number of prominent business-people who signed a letter to the Telegraph calling on Chancellor Gordon Brown to lower taxes.Ambrose Evans-pritchard, UK faces death by taxes, say City chiefs, Telegraph, 3 December 2005.
==Business interests==
Anthony Bamford took over as head of JCB in 1975.Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford, Independent, 23 August 2006.
===Property===
'W magazine reports:
::In addition to the Gloucestershire stronghold [1'700 acre Daylesford], there’s a London mansion; a 4,200-acre estate in Staffordshire, known as Wootton; Heron Bay, the fabled Barbados home once owned by Ronald and Marietta Tree; and Château de Léoube, in Provence. At sea and in the air they are no less pampered: There’s the Virginian, their 240-foot yacht previously owned by John Kluge; the private jet; and one of the biggest private helicopters in England, a Sikorsky S-76 (Anthony uses it to commute daily to his factory in Staffordshire).James Reginato, Lady Bountiful, W Magazine, December 2007.
==Affiliations==
JCB | Taxpayers' Alliance | Conservative Party | Midlands Industrial Council | White's |Daniel Hannan MP
==Background==
Bamford is the son of Joseph Cyril Bamford, who founded the excavation machinery business JCB in 1945. The firm prospered in the postwar boom.Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford, Independent, 23 August 2006.
Bamford has a brother Mark Bamford, who is a director of eight companies within the JCB Group and sits on the board of the Conservative Party Foundation. Meet the Board: Mark Bamford Esq, Conservative Party Foundation website, acc 26 March 2011.
==External Resources==
*Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford, Independent, 23 August 2006.
*Rich List 2012: No.2 - Sir Anthony Bamford (£1.85bn), Birmingham Post, 23 January 2012.
*Kamal Ahmed, Sir Anthony Bamford: cut tax on UK manufacturing, Sunday Telegraph, 12 February 2012.
*Joe Murphy, JCB chief and Tory donor 'is next in line for a peerage', thisislondon.co.uk, 27 March 2012.
==Notes==
Bamford, AnthonyBamford, AnthonyBamford, AnthonyBamford, AnthonyCategory:Brexit lobbyist - LeaveCategory:NOtoAV