The Centre for Policy Studies is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Spencer as Chairman of its Board of Directors with immediate effect.
Lord Saatchi is retiring as Chairman, after a decade in the role.
The Centre for Policy Studies is Britain’s leading centre-right think tank. Polling by ComRes showed that the CPS is viewed by Conservative MPs as the most influential think tank in Britain. Key CPS policies were at the heart of the recent Conservative Party manifesto.
Michael Spencer is one of Britain’s most prominent entrepreneurs and philanthropists. In 2010 he was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year, for his role in founding and growing ICAP (later NEX Group) into one of the world’s most successful financial services firms. In 1993 he founded the annual ICAP Charity Day in which the firm and all its employees worked for free for one day a year and donated all the revenues to good causes. Since then this has generated more than £150 million for 2,200 charities.
From 2006 to 2010 he was the Treasurer of the Conservative Party and during this time helped the party’s finances move from an £8 million deficit to a £75 million surplus, which in turn provided it with the platform to fight the 2010 General Election. He has long been a champion of British entrepreneurship, a key area of focus for the CPS.
He is now Chairman of IPGL, his investment company, and a director of CME, the global markets group.
Lord Saatchi is the founder of Saatchi & Saatchi and M&C Saatchi, and a former Chairman of the Conservative Party.
During his 10 years as Chairman of the CPS, the think tank has been one of the most influential voices in the British policy debate. The raising of the personal income tax allowance, the signature tax policy of the David Cameron administration, originated in one of Lord Saatchi’s CPS papers. Among many other policy initiatives, he pushed for the Government to cut tax for small businesses rather than large, and led the campaign for a Royal Commission on the NHS.
Under his leadership, the CPS launched its annual Margaret Thatcher Lecture, inaugurated by Rupert Murdoch, and the Margaret Thatcher Conference, featuring speakers such as Dr Henry Kissinger – two of the blue-chip events in the Westminster calendar. The CPS also set up the hugely successful CapX digital news platform, which inspired a host of imitators.
Michael Spencer said: “I am delighted to take on this new role. I have long been an admirer of the CPS and its work, since its policy views and approach accord closely with my own, and time and again it has been extremely influential in the political debate. I believe the CPS has a powerful role to play in the months and years ahead as the new Conservative administration seeks to seize the opportunities that Britain has as it leaves the European Union and also gets to grips with the significant economic and societal issues that we face.”
Lord Saatchi said: “Michael will be a great leader of a great organisation.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact the Centre for Policy Studies Press Office on 07852 952 917 or email [email protected]
Date Added: Monday 6th January 2020
