- Philip Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham
Philip Charles Harris, Baron Harris of Peckham (born
15 September inPeckham South London, 1942) is a Conservative member of theHouse of Lords andbusinessman .Biography
Business Interests
Harris is the chairman of
Carpetright plc and has over 40 years’ experience in carpet retailing and is one of the best known names in the business. 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. Lord Harris was also a non-executive director ofGreat Universal Stores plc for 18 years, retiring from the GUS Board in July 2004. Lord Harris became a non-executive director ofMatalan in October 2004.He was appointed to the board of Arsenal Football Club as a
non-executive director in November 2005. He owns, through holding companies, 53 shares, representing 0.00085% of the company.Other
He was made a
Life peer as Baron Harris of Peckham, of Peckham in theLondon Borough of Southwark in 1996.He has contributed extensively to education and as a result, many schools and colleges (such as
Harris Manchester College, Oxford ) bears his name. Many secondary schools in Southwark have received Harris donations. In theLondon Borough of Croydon , he helped to found theHarris City Technology College and theHarris Academy South Norwood , although many local residents are angered that the original name of the school, Stanley Technical High School, was dropped in place of the Harris name. [cite web |title = South Norwood residents demand Stanley's name is retained at new Harris Academy|publisher= CroydonLabour |url=http://www.croydonlabour.com/press_releases?PageId=df052888-b778-1504-c5dd-bede095be195 |accessdate=2007-03-02]The Lord ranked 206th in the
Sunday Times Rich List 2006 , with an estimated wealth of £285m. (2004 162nd £254m, 2005 192nd £250m).Harris made donations to
David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party. He is considered to be one of his personal friends. He is said to have played a role in convincing Cameron to contest the party's leadership in the summer of 2005. His ties to Cameron came under scrutiny two years later when it appeared thatAndrew Feldman , a political associate of his and a fellow donor to Cameron's leadership campaign, used Harris's name to claim privileges accorded to active members of the House of Lords (which Harris, his peerage notwithstanding, had never been.) A report inThe Independent newspaper quoted a senior member of the Lords Privileges Committee as suggesting the allegation shows how fundraising "pollutes our politics". [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2823089.ece]References
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