Ivan Massow (b. 1967) is a prominent businessman and British politician, formerly chairman of London's Institute of Contemporary Arts.

Personal life

Born Ivan Knight, Massow was adopted by bachelor John Massow after being abused by his natural father and step-father. He has had little contact with his adoptive father since coming out as gay. In 1997 his long-term boyfriend James committed suicide. He subsequently trained with the Samaritans and fundraised for MIND , the mental health charity. In 1999 the press ran stories that Massow wanted to have a baby with lesbian comedian, Jackie Clune , but this never happened. Massow is seen as an urban dandy, with celebrity friends. His flatmates were for a time conservative columnist Michael Gove and councillor Nicholas Boles, a situation Massow described as 'Tory Friends'.

He is known for his support for fox-hunting - he has been Master of the Cokeham Bloodhounds. He also owns race horses.

Business

Massow is severely dyslexic and left education with an O-level in metalwork in Brighton a BTEC in art and design in Eastbourne. He started work in the insurance industry in Bristol. Within a few years, he was became very successful at a young age. But Massow was angry that gay men were penalised for their sexuality when they applied for financial services: in a time of increasing HIV rates, gay men were seen as high risk and required to pay much higher premiums than other customers, whatever their circumstances.

In 1990, Massow started a financial services business from a flat in Kentish Town, north London. He found ways that gay people could take up mortgages and insurance at more or less equal rates. Soon he was cashing in on the 'pink pound ' and became a millionaire. He launched the magazine Phase in March 1994, but the venture collapsed.

In 1996, venture capitalists Catalyst invested in Massow Financial Services. However, a merger with Rainbow, the other gay financial services provider, led to almost ruin. Rainbow Massow collapsed, and in 2001 Massow was forced to reinvest and restart the company. He has since expanded his customer base to provide insurance for those with a history of mental health problems.

Politics

Massow had joined the Conservative Party as a teenager and was Chairman of his local Young Conservatives at 14. He became friends with prominent Conservative politicians and was feted as a rare gay Tory. His money and good looks increased his visibility and association with top politicians. In 1999, Massow was Lady Thatcher's escort at Conservative Party Conference.

Massow made no secret of his ambition to become a Member of Parliament or peer. However, his name was put low down on the list of potential Conservative candidates and no association chose him. In 1999, when Jeffrey Archer stood down as Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, Massow entered the race for the Party nomination. However, he soon pulled out, backing Steve Norris and working on his campaign as senior policy advisor.

Massow had been active on gay issues. The Conservatives had seemed a strange choice for some, but Massow supported them on economics matters and felt that the Labour Party had its fair share of homophobes. However, his erstwhile friend William Hague's support for Section 28, a measure preventing the promotion of homosexuality in the classroom, was a step too far. Many espousing 'compassionate conservativism' were tested by this policy and other gay rights matters, leading to the defection of Shaun Woodward MP to Labour and John Bercow MP's resignation from the frontbench.

Massow followed Woodward into the Labour Party in 2000, where he was welcomed. Indeed, there was a large amount of press interest in his change of party, surprising given that Massow had never held elected office or even stood for Parliament. However, his time in Labour was short-lived. He resigned and attempted to stand again as Mayor of London in 2004 with his own movement 'Change London', although his name in the end never made it onto the ballot paper. As a fox-hunting, businessman Labour member, he had proved as uncomfortable as a gay Tory.

Contemporary Art

In 1999, Massow became Chairman of London's influential Institute of Contemporary Arts. In January 2002, he wrote an article in the New Statesman magazine attacking his colleagues in the art world. He described contemporary conceptual art as "all hype and frequently no substance" and "the product of over-indulged, middle-class, bloated egos who patronise real people with fake understanding". He called the ICA a "pillar of the shock establishment". He attacked Tracy Emin.

By February, Massow had resigned, forced out by his colleagues on the ICA Council. He suggested that this was likely anyway, given his uncomfortable relationship with the ICA Director and his views on art. He has described the art world as bitchy and superficial, although he claims to actually like much conceptual art.

Massow subsequently set up the Institute of Contemporary Culture , a forum for artists supposedly free of 'orthodoxy'.

External links

• Ivan Massow Independent Financial Advisers
• BBC story on defection to Labour
• Guardian article on ICA resignation