Title Baron Farmer | Name Michael Baron | |
Born 17 December 1944 Tonbridge, Kent, England Occupation Businessman, political activist Relatives Suzan Farmer (sister)
George Farmer (son) | ||
Michael Stahel Farmer, The Lord Farmer (born 17 December 1944) is a British businessman, philanthropist, former treasurer of the Conservative Party, and life peer in the House of Lords.
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Early Life
Michael Stahel Farmer was born on 17 December 1944 in Tonbridge, Kent, England. He has a sister, Suzan Farmer, who was an actress. His maiden speech in the House of Lords described how he and Suzan were born to two alcoholic parents and the violent and chaotic backdrop to his early childhood including the death of his father, due to alcohol, when he was aged four. Despite early wealth in the family, bankruptcy shortly followed. He and his sister narrowly avoided being removed from their mother’s care due to her ongoing struggle with alcohol and his home life was characterised by ‘poverty, neglect and shame.’
Business Career
Educated at the boarding house of Wantage state grammar school, family circumstances required him to start work at 18. He started work at the bottom of the ladder, as a difference account clerk and messenger in a London Metal Exchange member firm. He spent his career in the City, involved in the merchanting and trading of base metals, especially copper. He headed the global base metal trading at Phibro Salomon Brothers in the late 1980’s and his subsequent trading company, the Metal & Commodity Company Ltd, floated on the London Stock Exchange under the title MG Plc, in 1999. He was subsequently the founding partner for the Red Kite Group of hedge funds, which provides mine finance and futures investment opportunities for funds. Red Kite manages over $2bn of assets as of the end of 2016.
He is known in the commodities world as "Mr Copper" for his long-term involvement with the world copper market, often responsible for shipping around 15pc to 20pc of China's copper supplies.
Political Career
A donor to the Conservative Party since 2001, he was Treasurer of the Party when they secured their overall parliamentary majority in May 2015. Prior to that, on 5 September 2014 he was created a Conservative life peer as Lord Farmer, of Bishopsgate in the City of London. His maiden speech in a Labour Party debate on women’s homelessness, domestic violence and social exclusion was indicative of his determination to use his influence in the Lords to tackle the root causes of disadvantage, including family and relationship breakdown, educational failure and worklessness. A vocal supporter of welfare and prison reform, he was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice to carry out a review of how supporting men in prison to have better family and other relationships can reduce reoffending rates.
Despite his ongoing full-time involvement in metals trading, the frequency of his speaking appearances is above average in the House of Lords, while his voting record is well above average and he has tabled well above the average number of written questions.
As a parliamentarian he has spoken about (inter alia) boosting statutory help for children leaving local authority care; improving children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing, including by regulating access to pornography; enabling upwards social mobility and better life chances; and addressing the persecution of Christians in North Korea and the Middle East.
He has introduced a Private Member’s Bill that would make family impact assessments statutory for all changes to government policy and spending and that would ensure the Government keeps track of family stability rates (the number of children who grow up with both their parents).
Personal Life
His maiden speech also drew attention to his decision at the age of 35 to become a Christian. Mid-career, he took two years off to study the bible. Subsequently he has become a frequent public speaker, particularly to other professionals, on how to navigate the tensions of being a Christian working in City markets. He has been an active supporter of the Centre for Social Justice and of other organisations which champion the importance of strong and stable families in public policy. He is married with three adult children and with his wife, Jenny, is involved in encouraging and supporting good educational practices in the UK.
He was a trustee of Kingham Hill Trust from 2001-2014 and a Council Member of Oakhill Theological College over the same period. He is a founding sponsor for ARK All Saints Church of England Academy in Camberwell and, in 2008, he established the Cross Trust, a philanthropic fund which advances education nationally and internationally.