The ringleader of a leading anti-capitalist protest group is the son of a top executive at a superyacht insurance broker, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Privately educated Arthur Clifton, 25, is a leading organiser for Take Back Power, the protest group which this month dumped manure at The Ritz Hotel in Mayfair and threw apple crumble and custard at the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.
The group – a successor to Just Stop Oil – has raised £56,000 in an online fundraiser for its campaigns to ‘tackle economic inequality’ and impose greater taxes on the rich.
But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Clifton’s father, Michael, 58, is a boss at international insurance brokers Chaucer, which boasts of having taken $3.1 billion (£2.3 billion) in premiums in 2024.
Michael is the head of US casualty treaty – where a re-insurer covers a portfolio of risks – and has 30 years’ experience in the business.
In a huge contrast to what Take Back Power stands for, Chaucer boasts on its website of providing insurance coverage for private yachts – the preserve of the superrich – as well as other vessels such as cruise ships and tankers.
A source said: ‘Where Arthur’s dad works is in direct opposition to the aims and objectives of Take Back Power. Arthur has been given a private education and a wonderful lifestyle most young people can only dream of, funded by his dad working in the same environment he claims to want to fight against.’
Privately educated Arthur Clifton, 25, is a leading organiser for anti-capitalist group Take Back Power
The 25-year-old attended Latymer Upper School, one of the country’s top public schools, and his father is a boss at international insurance brokers Chaucer
Clifton grew up in an upmarket West London property and attended Latymer Upper School, one of the top public schools in the country where annual fees are £30,000.
Records show he was recently living in a £2 million house.
Clifton was previously a member of direct action group Youth Demand. Earlier this year he was given a 12-month community order, with 120 hours of unpaid work, for causing £5,000 of criminal damage by spraying orange paint at University College London in 2023.
Take Back Power said: ‘It’s time ordinary people decide how to make the super-rich pay their fair share, in order to fix Britain.’
