Anthony Grabiner, Baron Grabiner

Last updated

The Lord Grabiner
KC
Lord Grabiner 2015.jpg
Grabiner c. 2000
Master of Clare College, Cambridge
In office
October 2014 October 2021
Assumed office
Personal details
Born
Anthony Stephen Grabiner

(1945-03-21) 21 March 1945 (age 79)
Political party
Education Central Foundation Boys' School
Alma mater

Anthony Stephen Grabiner, Baron Grabiner, KC (born 21 March 1945) [1] is a British barrister, academic administrator, and life peer. He is head of chambers at One Essex Court, a leading set of commercial barristers in the Temple, [2] and was the Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn for 2013. [3] From 2014 to 2021 he served as the Master of Clare College, Cambridge and, since 2015, he has served as the President of the University of Law. Grabiner was non-executive chairman of Taveta Investments Ltd, the holding company of Sir Philip Green behind Arcadia Group from 2002 to December 2015.

Contents

In 1999, he was made a life peer as Baron Grabiner, and sat in the House of Lords on the Labour Party benches. In October 2015, he resigned the Labour whip over the direction the party was taking under Jeremy Corbyn. He sat in the Lords as a non-affiliated member and now crossbench peer, but remains a member of the Labour Party.

Early life

Grabiner was born on 21 March 1945 to Jewish parents, Ralph Grabiner and Freda Cohen. He was educated in the Central Foundation Boys' School. He studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he graduated with a first class honours Bachelor of Laws (LLB) in 1966, and with a Master of Laws (LLM) with distinction one year later. He was further educated in Lincoln's Inn, and was called to the Bar in 1968. [4] [5]

Career

From 1976 to 1981, Grabiner was Standing Junior Counsel to the Department of Trade and the Export Credits Guarantee Department and Junior Counsel to the Crown from 1978 to 1981. Made a Queen's Counsel in 1981, he became a Bencher in 1989, and a Recorder of the Crown Court between 1990 and 1999. Grabiner has been a Deputy High Court Judge since 1994.

Grabiner was non-executive chairman of Arcadia Group from October 2002 to December 2015, of which his first cousin, Ian Grabiner has been chief executive officer (CEO) since October 2009, and chief operating officer (COO) since 2002. [6] [7] He was a non-executive director of Next plc in 2002, and a member of the Bank of England Financial Services Law Committee from 2002 to 2005. In the week ending 15 October 2010, Lord Grabiner represented Liverpool Football Club in the London High Court and won two cases against the then current owners of Liverpool Football Club. Lord Grabiner's service to Liverpool Football Club has been noted by international news organisations. [8] [9]

In July 2011, Grabiner was appointed by News Corporation as chairman of the management and standards committee [10] established by the company in the wake of the News International phone hacking scandal. [11] [12] It was subsequently reported in The Lawyer magazine that Grabiner would be receiving a fee of £3,000 an hour for his advice to News Corporation. [13]

In 2019 Lord Grabiner provided part of the Post Office's defence against the claims by 555 sub postmasters that faults in the Post Office's Horizon IT had resulted in the wrongful prosecutions - a key part of the British Post Office scandal. He argued that the judge in the group litigation should recuse (dismiss) himself. This is seen as part of the Post Office's attempts to extend the case in order to increase the legal costs of the postmasters. [14]

Academic career

Grabiner was Chair of the Governors of the London School of Economics from 1998 until 2007. [15] In December 2013, it was announced that he had been elected Master of Clare College, Cambridge University, to succeed Professor Tony Badger in October 2014. [16] On 1 August 2015, Grabiner was appointed as the President of the University of Law. [17]

Political career

On 26 July 1999, Grabiner was created a life peer with the title Baron Grabiner, of Aldwych in the City of Westminster. [18] From 1999 to 2015, he sat in the House of Lords on the Labour Party benches. On 24 October 2015, he announced that he had resigned the Labour whip but would remain a party member. [19] He was the second Labour peer to resign the whip over the views of the new party leader, Jeremy Corbyn. [20] Grabiner explained his resignation to The Times : "I have nothing in common whatever with Mr Corbyn — and I don't believe we are ever going to win an election." [21] He has sat in the Lords as a cross-bench member since 2016. [15] [19]

Taveta Investments

Grabiner was non-executive chairman of Taveta Investments Ltd, the holding company of Sir Philip Green behind Arcadia Group from 2002 to December 2015. [22]

In July 2016, Grabiner was denounced in an official report by Members of Parliament in relationship to his chairmanship of Taveta, for having a "remarkably docile attitude" and representing the "apogee of weak corporate governance". [23] Furthermore, MPs stated that "He was content to provide a veneer of establishment credibility to the group while happily disengaging from the key decisions he had a responsibility to scrutinise. For this deplorable performance he received a considerable salary". [24]

Personal life

Since 1983, Lord Grabiner has been married to Jane Portnoy. They have three sons and one daughter.

Marylebone Cricket Club

Lord Grabiner is a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club. He was a member of the club's Development Committee from which, along with John Major, he resigned over the club's failure to proceed with a development "Masterplan" in 2012.

Other sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton</span> British politician, peer and barrister (born 1951)

Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, is a British Labour peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2003 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greville Janner</span> British politician and barrister (1928–2015)

Greville Ewan Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, was a British politician, barrister and writer. He became a Labour Party Member of Parliament for Leicester in the 1970 general election as a last-minute candidate, succeeding his father. He was an MP until 1997, and then elevated to the House of Lords. Never a frontbencher, Janner was particularly known for his work on Select Committees; he chaired the Select Committee on Employment for a time. He was associated with a number of Jewish organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, of which he was chairman from 1978 to 1984, and was later prominent in the field of education about the Holocaust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Waddington</span> British politician (1929–2017)

David Charles Waddington, Baron Waddington, was a British politician and barrister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon</span> Shadow Leader of the House of Lords

Angela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon is a British politician and life peer serving as Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords since 2015. A member of Labour Co-op, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Basildon from 1997 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew</span> British barrister and politician (born 1948)

Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, is a British barrister and crossbench member of the House of Lords. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Rooker</span> British Labour politician, life peer

Jeffrey William Rooker, Baron Rooker is a British politician and life peer who served as a government minister from 1997 to 2008. A member of the Labour Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Perry Barr from 1974 to 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Triesman, Baron Triesman</span> British Labour politician and merchant banker

David Maxim Triesman, Baron Triesman is a British politician, merchant banker and former trade union leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie</span> British politician (born 1949)

Michael Goodall Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie, is a British Labour Party politician. He has served in two legislatures in the United Kingdom and served as Minister for Culture and Sport in the Scottish Executive Cabinet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willy Bach, Baron Bach</span> British Labour politician

William Stephen Goulden "Willy" Bach, Baron Bach is a British Labour member of the House of Lords. He was a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Justice from 2008 to 2010. He resigned from the opposition front bench when he was elected the Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner on 6 May 2016. He did not stand again at the 2021 PCC election and was succeeded by the Conservative Rupert Matthews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conor McGinn</span> British-Irish Independent politician

Conor Patrick McGinn is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Helens North from 2015 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dianne Hayter</span> British politician and member of the House of Lords

Dianne Hayter, Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town is a British politician serving as a Member of the House of Lords since 2010. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, she was Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 2017 to 2021.

Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield is a British politician and a member of the House of Lords. He served in various leadership roles in local government as a Conservative and was influential in the establishment of the Local Government Association. He achieved notoriety in the Parliamentary expenses scandal, when he was convicted of false accounting and sent to prison. Following his release he was suspended from the House of Lords for a time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keir Starmer</span> Leader of the British Labour Party since 2020

Sir Keir Rodney Starmer is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras from 2015 to 2024, and previously was Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013. He ideologically identifies as progressive and as being part of the centre-ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parry Mitchell, Baron Mitchell</span>

Parry Andrew Mitchell, Baron Mitchell is a British businessman and Labour member of the House of Lords. On 10 May 2000, Mitchell was created a life peer as Baron Mitchell, of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, and introduced in the House of Lords on 24 May 2000. He sat on the Labour benches until he resigned from the party in September 2016. He rejoined the party in June 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy Kennedy, Baron Kennedy of Southwark</span> British politician and life peer (born 1962)

Roy Francis Kennedy, Baron Kennedy of Southwark, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and life peer serving as Opposition Chief Whip in the House of Lords since 2021.

Cristina Stuart Green, Lady Green, known as Tina Green, is an English businesswoman and interior designer. Green is the director of Taveta, the majority owner of Taveta Investments Ltd, the parent company of the Arcadia Group, of which her husband, Sir Philip Green, is chairman. The Arcadia Group owned the clothing retail chains Topshop and Topman, as well as Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, and Wallis. Taveta owned British Homes Stores (BHS) before its 2015 sale. BHS was placed into administration in 2016, and the Arcadia Group was placed into administration in 2020. Green formed the interior design company Green & Mingarelli with the Italian designer Pietro Mingarelli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iain McNicol</span> British politician and trade unionist (born 1969)

Iain Mackenzie McNicol, Baron McNicol of West Kilbride is a British politician, trade unionist and life peer who served as General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2011 to 2018. He was National Political Officer of the GMB trade union from 2004 to 2011.

Non-affiliated members of the House of Lords are peers who do not belong to any parliamentary group in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. They do not take a political party's whip, nor affiliate to the crossbench group, nor are they Lords Spiritual. Formerly, the law lords were also a separate affiliation, but their successors, if peers, are disqualified from sitting in the Lords until they no longer hold a judicial position.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Hayman</span> British Labour politician

Susan Mary Hayman, Baroness Hayman of Ullock is a British politician and life peer who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington from 2015 to 2019 and appointed to the House of Lords in 2020.

References

  1. "Lord Grabiner". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  2. One Essex Court. "Lord Grabiner QC biography at One Essex Court" . Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  3. "Officers of the Inn". Lincolnsinn.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 March 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  4. The International Who's Who 2004. Europa Publishers. 2004. ISBN   9781857432176 . Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  5. "BestLawyers.com advisory board official biography". BestLawyers.com. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  6. Rankine, Kate (11 December 2002). "Green puts Grabiner in key Arcadia post". Telegraph. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  7. "ARCADIA GROUP LIMITED - Officers (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  8. "Declan Lynch: The game is up for players of vulture capitalism - Independent.ie".
  9. "Lord Grabiner QC steals show", from "Lord Grabiner QC steals show with a match-winning cameo", Frank Dalleres, City AM, 14 October 2010. Last accessed 17 October 2010
  10. Neate, Rupert (18 July 2011). "Lord Grabiner: high court hero faces tough new role with News Corporation". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  11. "News Corp appoints Grabiner QC to oversee phone-hacking investigation". The Lawyer. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  12. "Lord Grabiner to chair News International standards committee". The Jewish Chronicle. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  13. "News Corp shells out £3k an hour for Grabiner". The Lawyer. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  14. The Evidence-Based Justice Lab (2 August 2021), "Issues arising in the Conduct of the Bates Litigation" (PDF), The Post Office Project, University of Exeter, Working Paper 1.
  15. 1 2 "Lord Grabiner". Parliament.UK. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  16. "Clare College elects next Master". News. Cambridge University. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  17. "Lord Grabiner QC appointed President of The University of Law". University of Law . 5 August 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  18. "No. 55566". The London Gazette . 29 July 1999. p. 8180.
  19. 1 2 "Second Labour peer resigns party whip". BBC News. BBC. 24 October 2015. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  20. Slawson, Nicola (24 October 2015). "Second peer abandons Labour benches in Lords over Corbyn's leadership". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  21. Coates, Sam; Gibb, Frances; Elliott, Francis (24 October 2015). "Peer quits Labour whip after claiming Corbyn is vote-loser". The Times. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  22. White, Michael (26 July 2016). "A lord's 'veneer of establishment credibility' was worth little to BHS | Michael White". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  23. "Leadership failures and personal greed led to collapse of BHS - News from Parliament".
  24. Butler, Sarah; Ruddick, Graham (25 July 2016). "Sir Philip Green's reputation ripped apart in damning report on BHS demise". The Guardian.
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Followed by