Jonathan Mendelsohn
Jonathan Mendelsohn is the director of general election resources for the British Labour Party.[1] He had previously been a spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company PartyGaming.[2] He is the former chairman of Labour Friends of Israel.[1]
With Neal Lawson and Ben Lucas, he founded LLM Communications in 1997, a lobbying firm with notable access to the new Labour Government.[3][4]
He had written to controversial Labour donor David Abrahams claiming he was one of Labour's "strongest supporters".[5] In 1998 he was caught on tape along with Derek Draper boasting to Greg Palast, an undercover reporter posing as a businessman, about how they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients[6] in a scandal that was dubbed "Lobbygate".[7] Draper denied the allegations.[8] In the same incident Mendelsohn was approached by an undercover journalist posing as a representative of American energy companies who were seeking to ignore environmental laws. Despite LLM's claim that "we believe that there will be a new breed of 'ethical winners' who will demonstrate that businesses no longer operate in a moral vacuum",[9] Mendelsohn went on to advise the reporter to rephrase their plans into language that sounded "Earth-Friendly" going on to say "Tony [Blair] is very anxious to be seen as green. Everything has to be couched in environmental language - even if it's slightly Orwellian."[10]
He donated money to the Peter Hain Labour Party deputy leadership campaign.[11]
According to the Daily Telegraph, "Mr Mendelsohn is steeped in the north London Jewish community. He is a close friend of Lord Levy, who was at the heart of Labour’s cash for peerages affair."[1]
He is married with four children. His wife, Nicola, was formerly deputy chairman of the advertising agency Grey London, he is also known to be well respected within his community and is generally a very liked man .[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Christopher Hope (29 November 2007). "Jon Mendelsohn profile: a real Mr Fix-It". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/28/nbrown1928.xml. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- ^ Party Gaming communicator now Labour Party Fundraiser
- ^ Wheen, Francis (7 February 2001). "Social justice - that's so old Labour". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,5673,434619,00.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ Comment is Free… but journos are scared « Follow The Money
- ^ 'You're not up to the job Gordon': Cameron launches blistering attack over donor scandal, Evening Standard, 28 November
- ^ Greg Palast (1 May 2005). "Britain for Sale". http://www.gregpalast.com/tony-blair-and-the-sale-of-britain/. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ "You must remember this". The Observer. 1 April 2001. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/2001election/story/0,,466695,00.html. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ "Draper accuses Observer of entrapment". BBC. 7 July 1998. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/128125.stm. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
- ^ LLM Brochure
- ^ "Jon Mendelsohn". Man In The Eye (Private Eye). 7 December 2007.
- ^ Colin Brown (30 November 2007). "Brown aide in the frame as police are asked to investigate donations". The Independent. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article3209867.ece. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
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