Jonathan Neil Mendelsohn, Baron Mendelsohn (born 30 December 1966) is a British

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

and Labour political organiser. He was appointed the Director of General Election Resources for the party in 2007. Mendelsohn is a life peer member of the House of Lords and chairman of

888 Holdings Evoke plc, formerly 888 Holdings Limited, is an international sports betting and gambling company. It owns brands such as 888casino, 888poker, 888sport, Mr Green, and William Hill. Business operations are led from its headquarters in London, a ...

, a gambling company.

"Lobbygate"

With

Neal Lawson Neal Lawson (born 1963) is a British political commentator and organiser. Lawson was born in and brought up in Bexleyheath, South East London. He became interested in politics through his father, who was a printer in Fleet Street and joined the ...

and Ben Lucas, he founded LLM Communications in 1997, a lobbying firm with easy access to the new Labour Government. He has been a spokesman and lobbyist for the gambling company

PartyGaming PartyGaming plc was a network of gambling sites operated by Ruth Parasol in the Caribbean. Founded in 1997, the network eventually operated under an umbrella company called iGlobalMedia, which then changed its name to PartyGaming. PartyGaming's fl ...

. In 1998, he was caught on tape along with

Derek Draper Derek William Draper (15 August 1967 – 3 January 2024) was an English political lobbyist and psychotherapist. As a political advisor, he was involved in two political scandals: " Lobbygate" in 1998, and another in 2009 while he was edito ...

boasting to

Greg Palast Gregory Allyn Palast (born June 26, 1952) is an author and a freelance journalist who has often worked for the BBC and ''The Guardian''. His work frequently focuses on corporate malfeasance. He has also worked with labor unions and consumer a ...

, an undercover reporter posing as a businessman, about how they could sell access to government ministers and create tax breaks for their clients in a scandal that was dubbed "Lobbygate". Draper denied the allegations. 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", Mendelsohn went on to advise the reporter to rephrase their plans into language that sounded "Earth-Friendly" going on to say "Tony

lair Lair may refer to: __NOTOC__ * ''Lair'' (novel), a 1979 novel by James Herbert * ''Lair'' (video game), a 2007 video game * ''The Lair'', a 2007–2008 American gay-themed vampire television series * ''The Lair'' (2022 film), a 2022 action horro ...

is very anxious to be seen as green. Everything has to be couched in environmental language – even if it's slightly Orwellian." In 2007, then a fundraiser for Gordon Brown, he wrote to controversial Labour donor David Abrahams, describing Abrahams as one of Labour's "strongest supporters", at the height of a scandal over falsely declared donations.

Other activities

He donated money to

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain, (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

's 2007 deputy leadership campaign. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', "Mr Mendelsohn is steeped in the north London Jewish community", and is a former chairman of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...

House of Lords

On 5 September 2013 he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

as Baron Mendelsohn, of

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

in the

London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...

. He became Labour's business and international trade spokesman in the House of Lords. In January 2018 he was asked to "step down" from this front bench role, in the wake of the

Presidents Club The Presidents Club Charitable Trust was a British charity known for an annual charity dinner held from 1985 to 2018. The dinner, held usually at The Dorchester hotel in London, was for male guests only and was considered a "mainstay of London's ...

dinner earlier that month, where several women were subjected to sexual harassment and groping. He attended the dinner as President of a charity which received support from the event. According to a party statement, he "did not witness any of the appalling incidents described in reports and has unreservedly condemned such behaviour".

Personal life

He is married with four children. His wife Nicola, née Clyne, now Lady Mendelsohn, was appointed

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

's vice-president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa in May 2013. She was formerly chairman of the advertising agency

Karmarama Picturehouse are a band from Dublin, Ireland. The band are most famous for their song "Sunburst" from the album ''Karmarama'' in Ireland. History PictureHouse is the brainchild of Dave Browne. Originally signed to London Records in 1994, a rat ...

, deputy chairman of the advertising agency

Grey London Grey Group is a global advertising and marketing agency with headquarters in New York City, and 432 offices in 96 countries, operating in 154 cities. It is organized into four geographical units: North America; Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asi ...

and past President of the

Institute of Practitioners in Advertising The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), incorporated by a Royal Charter, is the trade body and professional institute for agencies and individuals working in the UK's advertising, media and marketing communications industry. History F ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendelsohn, Jonathan 1966 births Living people Labour Party (UK) officials Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Labour Friends of Israel British Jews British lobbyists British entertainment industry businesspeople