Parking and Portillo... the failures that blot hedge fund tycoon's career

Colin Barrow's political career will be best remembered for two spectacular failures.

In 2001 he lent his palatial Westminster town house - the former residence of the Bishop of London - to Michael Portillo to use as a campaign headquarters for the former defence secretary's doomed tilt at the Tory party leadership.

A decade later he sealed his own political fate with a hugely unpopular parking policy for the West End that united friend and foe against him.
Neither blot on his CV will unduly worry an insouciant operator who came into politics late in life having made enough money by his forties not to have to work again.

Born in Hampshire in 1952, Mr Barrow started his career as a commercial manager at the oil and gas engineering group John Brown before joining commodities trading giant ED&F Man - later to become the huge hedge fund operator Man Group - in 1983.

He worked for several years on Wall Street, describing his time there as "right in the middle of Gordon Gekko, greed is good, red braces. It was a fascinating, fascinating time. People really worked hard and wanted to get on and there was a sort of immigrant mentality."

Mr Barrow founded and ran Man's investment management arm up to its flotation in 1994, which made him a multi-millionaire. He left Man in 1996 and moved to a country house in Suffolk, in part in search of better care facilities for his autistic son, James.

Mr Barrow - an instinctive Conservative - became involved in party politics there, shortly after the electoral wipe-out of the 1997 Blair landslide.

In an interview he recalled: "I have always been interested in politics. I came out of business, I sold it and sat down and said 'what am I going to do now?' and found myself surrounded by men in blazers who said: 'Have you ever thought about going into local government? I was propelled into a seat, and the next thing I knew I was deputy leader of the Conservative group on Suffolk county council."

Mr Barrow moved back to London in 2001 and after the Portillo election bid, stood for Hyde Park ward in 2002.

He was quickly appointed to the Cabinet under the then leader Simon Milton and was given the economic development and transport role, where his responsibilities included parking.

In 2003, on his watch, plans to introduce evening parking charges in the West End were thrown out on the same grounds - excessive economic damage - he rejected out of hand this time.

At this time Mr Barrow became involved with three think tanks -C Change, the Policy Exchange and Localis - associated with the Tory party's modernising wing championed by rising star David Cameron. In 2004, the year he was appointed a CBE, he made three donations to Conservative Central Office totalling £30,750.

Mr Barrow was elected deputy leader of Westminster in 2005 and leader in 2008. His leadership got off to a rocky start when it emerged that the council had lost £17 million - £10 million on his watch - in the Icelandic banking meltdown.

Having sold the Westminster home, he now occupies with his fourth wife Ana - known not to be a fan of public transport - two adjacent apartments knocked into one in Exhibition Road, worth around £6 million.

He also owns a cabin on a "floating tax haven", a cruise liner called The World, which slowly circumnavigates the globe. Cabins range in price from £400,000 to £9 million.

He lists his hobbies as bridge, skiing, scuba diving and oriental art and loves to be seen at the Ivy, owned by his nemesis, Richard Caring, who funded the legal cases against the parking policy.

In 2009 Mr Barrow faced prosecution over unauthorised renovations carried out at the 330-year-old Darsham House in Suffolk. He and his ex-wife, Angelica, faced nine charges including replacing floorboards with chipboard and plywood. Mr Barrow and his ex-wife pleased not guilty to the charges and after spending £350,000 on legal costs they avoided a criminal conviction.

Mr Barrow remains chairman of his own hedge fund, Alpha Strategic, where a fellow director is the Deputy Mayor of London, Kit Malthouse. He said he now plans to devote his time to "writing and lecturing".

A close friend said Mr Barrow spoke last year about stepping down.

"He told me months ago that he was going to go in spring," the friend said. "He is almost 60, which has significance because his father died when he was 60. He said he wanted to clear the decks this year and that he had already started dropping a few commitments.

"It has been a rough old ride for him for the last two or three years so he said he was thinking about going."

Who is in the running to be the next leader of Westminster Council?

Jonathan Glanz
Age: 51 From: London

View on nightlife tax: Against, but has never spoken out publicly.

The cabinet member for housing is the only potential candidate for the leadership who represents West End ward. Did not attend the meeting when decision on parking charges was taken, but has never spoken publicly against.

The property solicitor maintains he has been vociferous in pointing out the pitfalls of the policy. Educated at University College London, he qualified as a solicitor in 1984 and set up his own property business in 1990. Spoke at 2010 Conservative Party conference about "greening" Soho.

Big supporter of the campaign to re-elect Boris Johnson, who has opposed the parking charges. A married father of a teenage son, his interests include opera and running.

Philippa Roe
Age: 49 From: London

View on nightlife tax: Unclear, but is keenly aware of need to raise revenue

Gave up career as Citigroup director after the birth of her twins. Elected to the council in 2006. With her money background - she was part of team that dreamed up the Private Finance Initiative - was put in charge of finance.

Described as a "technocrat" and seen as formidable intellect. Doubts about Colin Barrow led her to consider a leadership challenge last year. She is a governor of Imperial College, vice-chairman of Macmillan Cancer Support London Events and a patron of Breast Cancer Haven.

Has not spoken on parking charges, but as head of finance would know implications of scrapping the policy. Lives in a £4 million Belgravia home.

Edward Argar
Age: 34 From: Kent

View on nightlife tax: Not a fan - expected to scrap policy if wins

The Oxford-educated management consultant is favoured candidate of parking charge opponents. "Personable" and "pragmatic", the 44-year-old is said to have privately expressed misgivings about the policy. Was previously a political adviser to former shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram in the early Noughties.

Has made no secret of his parliamentary ambitions - he lost to Labour's Andrew Smith in the Oxford East constituency at last election - and may not want to tie himself down in the leadership role. He is cabinet member for city management.

Interests are reading, films, cooking, and watching cricket.

Brian Connell
Age: 41 From: Somerset

View on nightlife tax: Unclear, but as enterprise spokesman he is likely to be against

Son of a Somerset nurseryman. Describes himself as a "sometime adventurer" who loves marathon running and skiing. Environmental science graduate from Southampton University, he is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.

Joined KPMG in 2006. Was first elected in 2002 and spent much of 2009 working for Oliver Letwin in the Tories' policy unit. The married father of two is cabinet member for enterprise and volunteering and will have been bombarded with complaints about parking charges. His own views are not known. An outsider for leadership.

Why has Colin Barrow stepped down?
He says he always planned to quit at 60 but it is widely assumed that he came under huge pressure to go over the parking charges furore.

What happens now?
Initially, there will be a leadership vacuum at Westminster City Hall. The Tory group is due to meet on Wednesday night when candidates for the leadership are expected to emerge. A successor will be elected by Conservative councillors at the end of February and formally anointed by the full council on March 7.

What does it mean for the future of parking charges?
You can still park free in the West End in the evenings and on Sundays. It is not yet clear what will happen in future, but it seems highly likely that the policy will be dropped by Mr Barrow's successor. The introduction of the charges awaits the outcome of a judicial review, and they will not come in before the Olympics at the earliest in any case.

When will we know?
Soon. Candidates to take over from Mr Barrow will be expected to make their views known on this politically explosive subject during the leadership campaign. It would be a brave politician who said they planned to press on with the charges.