| Irvine Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw | |
|---|---|
| Born | Irvine Laidlaw 1943 (age 68–69) Keith, Banffshire |
| Residence | Monaco Scotland South Africa |
| Nationality | Scotland |
| Education | Merchiston Castle School |
| Alma mater | Leeds University Columbia Business School |
| Occupation | business man |
| Known for | Institute for International Research |
| Net worth | £800m+ |
| Title | Baron Laidlaw of Rothiemay |
| Political party | Conservative Party (UK) |
| Spouse | Christine |
Irvine Alan Stewart Laidlaw, Baron Laidlaw (born 1943 in Keith, Banffshire, Scotland) is a Scottish businessman, and a member of the House of Lords. In the Sunday Times Rich List 2011 ranking of the wealthiest people in the UK he was placed 95th with an estimated fortune of £745 million.[1]
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The son of a Banffshire mill-owner, Laidlaw was educated at Merchiston Castle School, Leeds University and New York city’s Columbia Business School.[2]
After graduation, Laidlaw turned a small US publishing company bought in 1973 into the Institute for International Research, the world's largest conference organiser. After calling off a £500m flotation in 2001 when the market plunged, he sold in 2005 for a sum believed to be in the order of £768m.[2]
One of the largest financial backers of the UK's Conservative Party, Laidlaw was made a life peer as Baron Laidlaw, of Rothiemay in Banffshire in June 2004. According to the records of the UK Electoral Commission, on 27 November 2007, Laidlaw gave a donation of £2,990,532.20 to the UK Conservative Party.[3] Laidlaw donated £25,000 to the 2008 London Mayoral election campaign of Boris Johnson.[2]
Lord Laidlaw is described by The Guardian as a "Monaco-based tax exile."[4]
Lord Laidlaw was criticized in April 2007 in the press for failing to become UK tax resident despite being appointed to the House of Lords. The Lords Appointments Commission now enjoys powers to block any non-UK residents becoming Lords in the first place, but it has no powers to force Lord Laidlaw to alter his status as he was granted his peerage prior to this change. The BBC has said that, in a letter seen by them, Laidlaw "cites a variety of personal reasons" for non-compliance.[5] Following an attack by Dennis Stevenson, Baron Stevenson of Coddenham, chair of the House of Lords Appointments Commission, on assurances given to the committee by Laidlaw to be a UK tax resident by April 2004, Laidlaw is presently granted a leave of absence, subject to further investigation.[6]
In 2004, Laidlaw said that he would over the next 20–30 years donate most of his fortune to helping disadvantaged Scots. His main vehicle was the Laidlaw Youth Project, which supported a range of charitable work for disadvantaged youngsters in Scotland from 2004 to 2007 when it became the Laidlaw Youth Trust. He has also donated:[7]
In 2007, he set up the Laidlaw Youth Trust which from 2007 to 2009 spent over £6million in Scotland on good causes related to disadvantaged children and young people. In 2007, in emerged that the Scottish Executive had given sufficient donations to pay the salary of the CEO Laidlaw Youth project, Maureen McGinn - who is also the wife of Scotland's most senior civil servant, Sir John Elvidge.[9]
He closed the Trust in 2009 because he was spending more time in South Africa and said he wanted to focus his charitable giving there. It is not known how much he has gifted in his new adopted country but he was involved in some township housing project.
Laidlaw and his wife Christine divide their time between an apartment in Monaco overlooking the harbour; and their South African home, an early 20th century 23,200 m2 estate in Noordhoek, near Cape Town. At the time of the purchase, in November 2005, it was the country's most expensive property, bought for R106-million.
Laidlaw regularly competes in historic car racing around the world with his Porsche 904GTS, Porsche 904/6, Maserati 250S & Maserati 6CM. Laidlaw also won a medal in the Scottish amateur rally, using a Ford Focus ST. In 2007 Laidlaw added a 1001 hp Bugatti Veyron to his extensive car collection, which is sometimes seen between Noordhoek and Cape Town, on the world-famous coastal road Chapman's Peak Drive.
Laidlaw has won the Key West Regatta twice using his Swan 60 cruiser-racer, Highland Fling. He began a voyage around the world in Oceanco built motor yacht, the Lady Christine, in 2003.
In April 2008, Laidlaw was the target of a sting operation staged by investigative journalist Mazher Mahmood on behalf of the British tabloid The News of the World, which revealed that Laidlaw hires up to five £3,000 vice girls at a time for all-night orgies involving spanking, bondage and lesbian sex at his Monaco home. After submitting a written confession to the newspaper in which he allegedly confesses a lifetime fighting sex addiction,[10] Laidlaw has reportedly checked himself into a six-week residential sex addict programme in South Africa, and donated £1million to help fellow sufferers.[11]