Powell also had careers in advertising and pottery, and was a political activist.
Born in London, Jim Powell was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he took a master's degree in history.
In 1971, after Cambridge, Powell found employment at Wasey, Campbell-Ewald, an advertising agency in London.
He went on to become managing director of Michael Bungay DFS, another agency.
[3] At the 1987 general election, Powell stood as the Conservative Party candidate in Coventry North West, but lost to the incumbent Labour MP Geoffrey Robinson.