If he had lived in a less meretricious age, Stuart Wheeler would be a household name.
An extraordinarily successfully entrepreneur, Stuart made his fortune founding the spread betting firm, IG Index. He then proceeded to spend a great deal of it restoring Chilham Castle in Kent and supporting the Conservative party during its nadir at the time of the Blair hegemony.
But for me it is the effort Stuart made to ensure that Britain regained her independence by leaving the European Union that really makes him stand out. At a time when the Eurosceptic movement was not only outside the mainstream, but seen by many as a hopeless cause supported only by those beyond the pale, he was a source of quiet inspiration. As a new MP in 2005, I found Stuart to be a constant encouragement.
Far from showing the kind of shrill certainty often associated with Euroscepticism, Stuart was both civil and subtle.
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