Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi

Maurice Saatchi, Baron Saatchi (born 21 June 1946) is the co-founder, with his brother Charles, of the advertising agencies Saatchi and Saatchi and M&C Saatchi, where he currently serves as Executive Director.

Biography

Early life

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, to Jewish parents, he is the brother of Charles Saatchi.

Advertising career

In the early 1970s, Saatchi, with his brother, formed the advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi. They are credited with a number of successful advertising campaigns, most notably the "Labour isn't working" posters on behalf of the Conservative Party for the 1979 British general election and advertisements for the cigarette brand Silk Cut.^[1] Maurice Saatchi served as chairman of the firm which became the world's largest advertising agency.^[2] However, a shareholder revolt in 1994 ended the brothers' role in the company, and they founded a new company, M&C Saatchi, the following year. The new company has also been described as a success.^[2]

Political career

Maurice Saatchi was created a life peer as Baron Saatchi, of Staplefield in the County of West Sussex in 1996. He serves as part of the House of Lords for the Conservative Party. Under the leadership of Iain Duncan Smith, Saatchi served as shadow Treasury spokesman in the Lords, forming a close relationship with the then-Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Michael Howard. Saatchi argued for the simplification of the tax system and that the poorest eight million people in the United Kingdom should not pay income tax.^[2]

After Howard became leader of the Conservatives in November 2003, Saatchi was appointed joint chairman of the party with Liam Fox. He had responsibility for running the party campaign for the 2005 general election, after which he stepped down.^[3] He published his reflections on the election campaign in a Centre for Policy Studies pamphlet If this is Conservatism, I am a Conservative in a chapter entitled How I Lost the Election. Among his failings listed in the document, Saatchi highlighted the following:

• I DID NOT convince the Party that if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
• I DID NOT dispel the illusion of research, which said that, as immigration was the number one issue in deciding how people vote, it should be the number one topic.
• I DID NOT prevent economics, the Conservatives' former ace of trumps, becoming a 'second order issue.'
• I DID NOT avoid the underestimation of public intelligence, as in the policy description 'Lower Taxes' when in fact taxes would be higher.

He recommended that future Conservative leaders establish a "moral purpose" as an ideology and future direction for the Party.^[4]

Other roles

He is also chairman of Finsbury Foods plc, and is a Governor of the London School of Economics from where he had graduated with a First class honours degree in Economics. Saatchi is a trustee of the Museum of Garden History, and also a director of the Centre for Policy Studies. He was also a trustee of the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1988 to 1996.

He is a previous recipient of the St. George’s Society Medal of Honour. An award established in 1996 which recognizes American and British industry leaders for significant contributions in the fields of business, finance and education.^[5]

Personal life

Saatchi is married to novelist Josephine Hart^[2] (Damage). He is number 366 in the Sunday Times Rich List 2008, with an estimated wealth of £220m in advertising and art.

Bibliography

• Maurice Saatchi If this is Conservatism, I am a Conservative from the Centre for Policy Studies

References

External links

• Maurice Saatchi profile
• They Work For You - Lord Saatchi
• The Guardian Media Top 100 2001 number 44; 2002 number 47