George Hargreaves (politician)

[citation needed] Hargreaves attended Woolverstone Hall, a boarding school owned by the Inner London Education Authority.

In 1973 the band were signed by M&W Music Productions, which was owned by Dave Myers and John Worsley, writers of the 1971 UK Eurovision Song Contest entry "Jack in The Box" sung by Clodagh Rodgers.

"[5] Cowell went on to describe Hargreaves as a "well known songwriter" in his autobiography I Don't Mean to be Rude, but.... Hargreaves topped the chart in Iceland with an Icelandic version of a Christmas song originally recorded, but never released, by Sinitta (with Simon Cowell singing Santa "Ho ho hoes" in the background vocals) The song "I Won't Be Lonely This Christmas" became "Heima Um Jólin" and was sung by Helga Möller.

"Feels Like the First Time" was however Sinitta's biggest hit in the US, going top ten in the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart.

Bray also co-wrote and produced the song "Baby Love" with the US singer Regina who was signed to Hargreaves' US production company West 78th Street Records.

Hargreaves worked on the mix of the "Baby Love" record and gained an insight into how to make 'Madonna sounding songs' and applied his new knowledge to Sinitta with "Feels Like the First Time".

In 1990 Hargreaves was ordained as a Pentecostal minister under the auspices of the International Ministerial Council of Great Britain and served as an associate pastor at Edmonton Temple church in North East London.

As part of the conditions of the Studentship Award he also gave a series of lectures at the Centre for Christianity & Culture on the subject of the Black Majority Churches in Britain.

Hargreaves, apart from pastoring the Hephzibah Christian Centre with his wife Maxine, was also deeply involved in community work in North East London and elsewhere.

Whilst studying at Oxford University from 1995-1997 Hargreaves served as an Associate Chaplain at Campsfield House Immigration Detention Centre.

In 1998, again with European funding, Hargreaves launched the Hephzibah Intro-net Project, setting up two of the earliest cybercafes in London, one at Edmonton Green and the other at the New Deal Campus in Hackney.

The project introduced unemployed young people to the Internet, website design and Wireless Application Protocol, which Hargreaves himself taught.

[7] Hargreaves served as Chair of the Metropolitan Police Service's 'STOP & SEARCH Community Consultative Committee' under Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick.

Hargreaves also served on the Metropolitan Police 'Operation Blunt' anti-knife crime committee and attempted to initiate a knife and gun bin programme in Waltham Forest and Hackney.

In 2002, he joined the Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) and served as the party's campaigns officer and acting chair of its Hackney branch.

[13] In November 2006 Hargreaves personally funded the Employment Tribunals of nine Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service firefighters who were suspended after refusing to distribute leaflets at a gay pride march.

Hargreaves (2nd from left in candidates line-up) and other candidates who contested the Glasgow Baillieston constituency in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election