Former Belron CEO Gary Lubner is poised to become one of the largest donors to the United Kingdom’s Labour Party, with The Week UK reporting that the auto glass magnate may donate approximately $5.3 million USD ahead of the next election.
Gary Lubner
Lubner clocked more than two decades, 22 years to be exact, as Belron’s CEO. He announced his retirement in November 2022 and passed the reigns to incoming CEO Carlos Brito in March 2023. Now, the former CEO is back in the news thanks to the financial support he’s providing Britain’s Labour Party.
According to the UK publication, Electoral Commission figures show that Lubner donated approximately $535,000 USD to the party in the first quarter of 2023. Furthermore, additional donations are expected over the course of the next year and a half, per a report from the Financial Times.
“…People with knowledge of his intentions expect his total donations before the election to top £5 million [approximately $5.3 million],” according to the Financial Times.
The Week UK reports that Lubner was born in South Africa during Apartheid after his Jewish grandparents fled to the country from Russia. In pulling from an interview Lubner had with the South African Power 100 List in 2013, The Week UK wrote that Lubner saw firsthand the “brutality of the apartheid regime.” Furthermore, Lubner has noted a past “cancer of antisemitism” in the Labour Party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.
“I have always believed really strongly and it’s been a family belief that you have an obligation to all the communities you work with,” Lubner told the Power 100 List. “It comes from a fundamental belief that businesses do not exist in a vacuum. They exist in a community. We happen to be born into a particular situation. So we always felt that there is an obligation, as individuals and as a business, to give back to communities less well-off than us.”
According to The Times, Lubner is not expected to take an official role with the Labour Party. However, party sources believe his efforts will have an impact in the future.
“Gary is one person to keep an eye on,” a Labour source told inews. “He’s going to be playing a significant role in the near future.”
