James Palumbo, Baron Palumbo of Southwark

The eldest son of property developer Peter Palumbo, Baron Palumbo, Jamie was born in London and educated at Eton College and Worcester College, Oxford.[2]

From 1984 to 1992, Palumbo worked in the City of London for Merrill Lynch and Morgan Grenfell in equity capital markets and property finance.[3]

In September 1991 Palumbo, together with his school friend Humphrey Waterhouse and DJ Justin Berkmann, founded the Ministry of Sound nightclub in South London. Ministry of Sound expanded into a number of areas including recorded music, live events, digital media and merchandise. Ministry of Sound Recordings sold over 70 million albums and by 2014 had become the largest independent music company in the world.[4] In 2001 Palumbo sold 16% of the business to 3i for £24 million, which he subsequently reacquired.[5] In 2016 he sold Ministry of Sound Recordings to the Sony Music Group for $104 million.[6] Publishing, live events, merchandise, and the London club remain part of the group.

In 1994 he launched legal proceedings against his father with his sister, Annabella Adams, claiming his father had mismanaged the family trust;[7] subsequently his father resigned as a trustee.[8]

His debut novel about corruption in the modern world, Tomas, was published in 2009.[9] Stephen Fry called the novel "remarkable... It's as if Thomas Pynchon and Burroughs and Vonnegut got together and had a bastard love child."[10] His second novel, Tancredi, about short termism in politics, was published in 2011.

Following the 2010 election Palumbo helped reorganise Lib Dem headquarters to make the party more efficient in Government.[11] Palumbo is a major donor to the Liberal Democrats.[12] In October 2013, Palumbo was created a life peer taking the title Baron Palumbo of Southwark, of Southwark, in the London Borough of Southwark.[13]

In 2017 he opened an animal sanctuary in Thailand with Rawipim Paijit, focused on spay and neuter, rescue, rehabilitation and rehoming of street dogs.[14]

He lives in London with his Thai friend of thirty years, Miss Rawipim Paijit.[3] He has a son, Alessandro, born in 1991 to Atoosa Hariri.[2]

• Voting record at the Public Whip
• Street Dog SOS