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Apprentice star Alan Sugar has quit the Labour party over the party’s policies on business.
The businessman, who has worked with Labour for 18 years, accused the party of being “anti-enterprise” and said he had lost confidence in its policies.
“In the past year I found myself losing confidence in the party due to their negative business policies and the general anti-enterprise concepts they were considering if they were to be elected,” he said.
Lord Sugar, who until now as a Labour peer in the House of Lords, says he raised the perceived issue with senior figures in the party several times over the last parliament.
He said in a statement that he had decided to wait until after the election to resign because he was a “loyal person” and did not want to damage the party’s chances. His resignation was accepted on Friday.
“I have no wish to stick the boot into the party. There are many good people in Labour working hard every day to serve the public, and I wish them all the best,” he added.
Where are the Apprentice winners now? Show all 13 1 /13Where are the Apprentice winners now? Where are the Apprentice winners now? Leah Totton - Winner in 2013 Leah used her prize money to set up a cosmetic skin clinic in East London, offering anti-ageing treatments, laser hair removal and effective alternatives to surgical liposuction.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Ricky Martin - Winner in 2012 Ricky won over Lord Sugar with his business plan for a specialist science recruitment company.
He is the founder and managing director of Hyper Recruitment Solutions, a consultancy dedicated to science and technology industries.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Tom Pellereau - Winner in 2011 Tom became the first apprentice to win a £250,00 investment as part of a format shake-up.
Known as 'inventor Tom' on Twitter, he is at the helm of various projects.
He still has success with Stylfile, which he sold alongside Lord Sugar. He is also working on extra safe baby feeding brand Babisil, as well as a screen to prevent musicians’ ear drums from being damaged.
Tom has launched a children’s story app with his sister called Timmy Tickle.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Stella English - Winner in 2010 Stella now works as a host on Crowd Box, the world’s first crowd funding TV channel.
In 2013 she took Lord Sugar to an employment tribunal, claiming she was treated like 'an overpaid lackey' and given menial tasks, but lost her case. The mother-of-two said afterwards she was 'ready to move on'.
Where are the Apprentice winners now? Yasmina Siadatan - Winner in 2009 Yasmina is the creative director of Start Up Loans. It aims to provide mentors and loans to 30,000 entrepreneurs and is funded by the UK Government.
She also co-owns the Mya Lacarte restaurant in Reading, which specialises in produce grown in Britain.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Lee McQueen - Winner in 2008 Lee was infamously picked to be Lord Sugar’s apprentice despite lying on his CV about the amount of time he spent at university.
He spent two years working for Amscreen, where he became a development director in 'digital signage' and worked under Lord Sugar’s son, Simon Sugar, who was CEO.
In 2010 he set up a recruitment and training company called Raw Talent Academy based in Oxfordshire. He has also developed Talent Hub, a division of the business which specialises in experienced sales people.
Where are the Apprentice winners now? Katie Hopkins - Second runner-up in 2008 The professional rent-a-gob calls herself ‘the only candidate to say no to Sir Alan’ on her Twitter account after she was forced to withdraw from the show before the final in 2006 due to childcare problems.
After several notable appearances on daytime TV mouthing off about ‘chavvy children’s names’ and why ginger babies are ‘harder to love’, Hopkins gained her own column in The Sun.
She recently decided to put on over four stone to prove to ‘fat people’ how easy it is to lose weight if they want to.
Where are the Apprentice winners now? Simon Ambrose - Winner in 2007 Simon became one of the longest-serving apprentice winners after he was hired as a surveyor in Lord Sugar's business Amsprop Estates.
He most recently became proprietor of Hoxton Basement, a multi-purpose venue that puts on gigs, art exhibitions and private parties.
He is also a partner in Red House - 'a charming pub and dining room situated in Chelsea Green' - as well as a board member of BlueSigma Capital Ltd, which carries out investment research.
BBC/ Talkback Thames
Where are the Apprentice winners now? Michelle Dewberry - Winner in 2006 Michelle has had a diverse career since leaving the show, including writing an autobiography called 'Anything is Possible', becoming a motivational speaker and appearing on Sky News as a current affairs commentator.
She is soon to launch ‘Let’s Get Britain Working’, aimed at helping job-seekers get back into work.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Tim Campbell - Winner in 2005 Tim describes himself as 'The Frank Bruno of the business world' on Twitter.
In 2007 he founded social enterprise Bright Ideas Trust, which helps young people in London who aren't in employment, education or training to start their own business. In 2012 he was appointed MBE for his services to enterprise culture.
He also works as a property consultant for London-based company Estate Office in their acquisitions and investments department.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Luisa Zissman - Runner-up in 2013 The cupcake entrepreneur described herself as having the ‘sex appeal of Jessica Rabbit’ when she first appeared on the show, and hasn’t stopped taking full advantage of her looks ever since.
After losing out to plastic surgery pro Leah Totton, she posed for a number of lads’ magazines and tabloids before signing up to Celebrity Big Brother last month.
copyright Boundless, Jim Marks, BBC
Where are the Apprentice winners now? Raef Bjayou - 2008 contestant The distinctive former public school boy made a name for himself during the series with catch-phrases such as ‘the spoken word is my tool’.
But he has since forged a career in TV, rather than becoming a columnist, making appearances on shows such as Celebrity Come Dine With Me, Ready Steady Cook and BBC Breakfast.
In 2012, he appeared alongside fellow Apprentice star Stuart Baggs where he planned a wedding for a young couple on Channel 5’s Celebrity Wedding Planner.
Earlier this year, Raef founded Zephyr:Media, a ‘multi platform PR, arts and media portal based in Mayfair, London’.
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Where are the Apprentice winners now? Saira Khan - Runner-up in 2005 The fiery runner-up on the first series of the Apprentice became a regular face on TV for a few years afterwards, presenting the BBC’s anger management series Temper You Temper.
She also presented a number of documentaries for the BBC, including one that followed her as she tried to adopt a baby from Pakistan.
She currently runs a natural baby products company.
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The peer said he would continue in the House of Lords “representing the interests of business and enterprise in the UK”, presumably as a cross-bench peer.
The peer has previously featured in Labour party political broadcasts and been a high-profile business ambassador for the party.
A number of New Labour figures, including Lord Hutton, Alan Johnson, Tony Blair, and Peter Mandelson, have criticised Ed Miliband's leadership of the party for its attitude to big business.
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