Party chairman who gave himself a false identity
TORY chairman Grant Shapps is nicknamed the Duracell bunny for his seemingly unstoppable energy and his willingness to appear on any TV show to defend the government.
But it is another name – Michael Green – for which he has become infamous in recent years. Green was an alter ego that Mr Shapps used to promote get rich quick products before he became an MP.
The revelation that he had used the alias even prompted a man to change his name to Michael Green by deed poll to stand against Mr Shapps in his Welwyn Hatfield seat in next month’s election, in the hope of embarrassing him.
It all adds to the perception of many of his political rivals that there is something not quite to be trusted about him.
Mr Shapps, a 46-year-old father of three, was first elected in 2005. Five years later, he became a housing minister in the incoming Coalition government.
Since September 2012, the qualified pilot has been Conservative Party chairman, charged with masterminding a campaign to win the 2015 general election.
His supporters say he is an effective media performer; often wheeled out by party high command to defend the party’s policies.
As fellow Tory MP Nick Boles said: ‘Somebody said he’s the Duracell bunny of the Conservative party. I did laugh at that because it’s a rather apt description.’
A populist politician, who is a self-confessed fan of restaurant chain Nandos, Mr Shapps is from a different background from many others in his Cabinet, which is often perceived as being populated by public school toffs.
Born in Watford, he was schooled at the local grammar school. His cousin is Mick Jones, guitarist of punk rock band The Clash. Mr Shapps’ brother even played with Jones in another band, Big Audio Dynamite.
Mr Shapps joined the Jewish youth organisation BBYO and later became its national president. At the age of 20 he was in a coma for a week after being involved in a car crash in the US. A decade later he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but went into full remission after chemotherapy.
The future Tory politician studied business and finance at Manchester Polytechnic, and upon leaving university he set up a successful printing business.
Later he started writing self-help guides for a website called HowToCorp, advising people on how to get rich quick – a job which has earned him a ‘loadsamoney’ nickname.
He wrote the books under an alias, Michael Green – and a photograph of him wearing a badge with the name at a US conference came to light in 2012.
Last month he had to admit that despite saying he had stopped using the name on election in 2005, he was still using it in summer 2006. Three years ago, claims first came to light that he had allegedly altered his Wikipedia entries; changing sentences which he said were inaccurate – such as that he was a Jehovah’s Witness.
It emerged that changes were made from computers in his constituency office.
And some have claimed he has followed and de-followed people on Twitter to increase the number of his followers.