Tag: British

  • Suzanne Moore

    Suzanne Moore

    This feminist daughter of a working class Tory is a lady who is truly independent. She votes with her feet and resigned from the New Statesman in disgust that Alastair Campbell was allowed to guest edit an issue. Honest and forthright, Moore stood in the 2010 General Election as an independent stating: “Vote for me, I’m flawed” in an interview for The Guardian. She secured 0.61% of the votes cast. Like her or loathe her, you cannot miss her.

  • Owen Oyston

    Owen Oyston

    This flamboyant fedora wearing tycoon made his fortune selling an estate agency empire just before the 1987 stock market crash. He’s now worth in excess of £100 million. Married twice to a former Miss Blackpool, his 13th century Lancashire home, Claughton Hall, was moved from the bottom of a hill to the top. He served three years in prison for raping a woman who strangely couldn’t remember in which year the crime occurred. Oyston continues to protest his innocence but with his majority stake in the prospering Blackpool F.C. and other interests, he’s got plenty else to keep himself busy.

  • Vidal Sassoon CBE (1928 – 2012)

    Vidal Sassoon CBE (1928 – 2012)

    He created the “wedge bob” hairstyle and liberated women from the “tyranny of the salon.” Four times married and a Sephardi Jew, Sassoon sold his brand in 1993 to concentrate on philanthropy. The Daily Telegraph once described him as an “anti-fascist warrior-hairdresser” and he will indeed be remembered as a man who led a revolution.

  • Nicky Haslam (Nicholas Haslam)

    Nicky Haslam (Nicholas Haslam)

    “Britain’s ultimate interior designer” is a man of many talents and guises. Haslam flits from party to party by night, but by day writes, edits and designs. He’s performed cabaret at The Savoy and Bellamy’s and interior watercolour renderings by him are held by the Victoria & Albert Museum. This trendsetter’s life is indeed summed up by the title of one of his books: Sheer Opulence.

  • Nancy Wake AC GM (1912 – 2011)

    Nancy Wake AC GM (1912 – 2011)

    Churchill’s most highly decorated special agent. A resistance heroine who lived at The Stafford Hotel from 2001 to 2003 and regaled visitors with tales of her time as the legendary “White Mouse.” Her tipple of choice, gin and tonics, flowed as freely as did the stories of her time interviewing Hitler in the 1930s and 500-mile missions on bicycles.

  • James Murdoch

    James Murdoch

    Considered by many as the pretender to the fortune of his father, Rupert, the phone hacking scandal may have put paid to that. He dropped out of Harvard to start a hip hop label named Rawkus and even gave an airing to a then little known Eminem. Here’s a rebel, complete with two tattoos, who, like a phoenix from the ashes, will undoubtedly rise again.

  • “Tulisa” Contostavlos (also known as Tula Paulinea Contostavlos)

    “Tulisa” Contostavlos (also known as Tula Paulinea Contostavlos)

    This British pop singer started out with her equally bizarrely named cousin, Dappy, in a hip hop group named N-Dubz. They’ve since fallen out very publicly on Twitter and now she sings lines such as: “Forgive us for what we’ve done, Cause we young, we young, we young.” Frankly, no forgiveness is necessary: Tulisa, please stop “living on the edge of life,” making sex tapes of your “intimate moments” and instead just silence yourself.

  • Jonathan Yeo

    Jonathan Yeo

    There is barely anyone this contemporary portraist hasn’t painted. George W. Bush, David Cameron, Minnie Driver, Prince Philip, Paris Hilton and Rupert Murdoch all number amongst his subjects. The son of Conservative politician Tim Yeo, he’s now made it his mission to poke fun at the politicians and personalities he depicts and even went as far as to describe Tony Blair as a “tacit co-conspirator.”

  • Claus Von Bülow

    Claus Von Bülow

    Tried twice for the attempted murder of his wife, Sunny, who remained in a vegetative state for some 28 years, this socialite and writer has the most mischievous of wits. Subject of the Golden Globe award winning film Reversal of Fortune starring Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close, this distinguished gent is also renowned for telling macabre jokes.

  • The Rt. Hon. The Lord Archer

    The Rt. Hon. The Lord Archer

    Jeffrey’s invented a lot of tales but is rightly renowned for spinning them brilliantly. This former politician wrote some brilliant diaries whilst in prison and now is mostly likely to be found doing charitable deeds. His shepherd’s pie and Krug parties are still the stuff of legends.