Sunday, 28 June 2009

A Tyneside property developer, he lived in a suburb of Newcastle and - apart from a short spell as a Labour councillor - mostly kept himself out of the limelight.

Yet he was a man with influential friends.

When Tony Blair made a speech in Sedgefield announcing he was to stand down from Parliament, David Abrahams was in the front row watching.

Party donor

What many people did not realise was that Mr Abrahams was one of the Labour party's biggest donors, giving more than £660,000 to the party between 2003 and 2007.

But it was the manner of those donations which were to catapult him - and assorted Labour Ministers and party treasurers - onto the front pages.

Mr Abrahams said he did not want the publicity associated with being a big political donor.