TimeStampBot at 06:14, 3 October 2023

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{{Short description|British businessman (1950–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date= October 2023}}
'''Avtar Singh Lit''' (7 April 1950 – 27 June 2023) was a British businessman who was the owner and chairman of [[Sunrise Radio Group]]. He was listed by AIM magazine as one of the "20 most powerful [[British Asian|Asians in British media]]" in 2005, and was said to have amassed a big personal fortune.<ref name="asiansinmedia">{{cite web|url=http://www.asiansinmedia.org/top20/2005/14.php|publisher=asiansinmedia.org|title=asiansinmedia.org|accessdate=2017-02-24|archive-date=27 April 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050427181319/http://www.asiansinmedia.org/top20/2005/14.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was declared bankrupt by the High Court in 2014, having lost five companies which went into administration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2113422|title = Avtar Lit | Bankruptcy Orders | the Gazette}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bizasialive.com/avtar-lit-declared-bankrupt-by-high-court/|title = Avtar Lit declared bankrupt by High Court|date = 9 April 2014}}</ref>

==Political ambitions==
Avtar Lit stood unsuccessfully as an Independent candidate for the [[Ealing Southall (UK Parliament constituency)|Ealing Southall]] [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]]ary constituency in the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 General Election]], finishing third of nine candidates, with 12.3% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |title=Parliamentary election results: Ealing Southall 2001 |url=https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201277/parliamentary_elections/590/parliamentary_election_results/19 |website=[[Ealing Council]] |access-date=9 January 2023}}</ref> Sunrise Radio carried extracts from an interview with him in advance of this, contrary to section 90(2)(b) of the [[Broadcasting Act]] 1990; the Radio Authority (now [[Ofcom]]) fined Sunrise Radio £10,000. Avtar Lit's son, Surinderpal Singh Lit, commonly known as [[Tony Lit]], stood, also unsuccessfully, as a candidate in the [[2007 Ealing Southall by-election]] as the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] candidate, also finishing third.<ref name="ofcom">{{cite web|url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/rau/newsroom/news-release/01/pr073.htm|publisher=ofcom.org.uk|title=Regulator archives - Ofcom – Radio Authority fines Sunrise Radio £10,000 (press release) |date=16 September 2016|accessdate=2017-02-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Parliamentary election results: Ealing Southall 2007 |url=https://www.ealing.gov.uk/info/201277/parliamentary_elections/590/parliamentary_election_results/14 |website=[[Ealing Council]] |access-date=9 January 2023}}</ref>

==Controversy==
In 2011, it was reported in ''The Guardian'' that £160,000 donated by Sunrise Radio listeners in support of victims of the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]] and [[2005 Kashmir earthquake]] was not spent on the victims as had been intended with the campaign, but "left dormant in a bank account for almost seven years", it being judged by the Charities Commission that although there was "no evidence to suggest that the funds were at risk of misapplication", the account's trustees "did not act appropriately", and had "failed to provide a sufficient satisfactory explanation or provide evidence to give reason for their delay". The money was subsequently given to two registered charities working in the affected areas. [[Virendra Sharma]], Labour MP for Ealing and Southall, demanded that an explanation be provided by the trustees. A spokesman for the [[Disasters Emergency Committee]], whilst supporting the trustees' "good intentions", observed that these were not enough and a "clear plan and procedures to ensure you will be able to spend the money you raise in a timely, effective and transparent fashion" were required in such circumstances.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2011/oct/17/sunrise-radio-station-cash-disasters|title = Asian radio station left disaster relief cash in bank for seven years|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 17 October 2011}}</ref>

In 2007, Lit was embroiled in what [[Joan Ryan (politician)|Joan Ryan]], Labour MP and vice-chair, called "breathtaking and naked Tory opportunism" in the course of "[[David Cameron]]'s personal intervention to overrule local Tories and appoint a candidate"; ''The Guardian'' reported that Lit's son, Tony, Cameron's "star candidate" viewed as "a new type of Tory: young, successful, metropolitan" and who, it was hoped, would "deliver a blow to [[Gordon Brown]] by winning the contest", attended with his family a farewell dinner for [[Tony Blair]] at the cost of £4,800- spending an additional £4,000 in a bid for "a weekend trip to Atlanta, the highlight of which was two seats at a dinner with [[Hillary Clinton]]"- despite being announced as the Conservative candidate for the Ealing Southall by-election the next week. The Labour party released photographs of Lit and Blair, and made it known that the £4,000 bid had not been paid, questioning whether this was due to the fact that "the Lits wanted to avoid all this coming out in the run-up to the election".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/jul/15/uk.conservatives|title = The £4,800 cheque that tripped Cameron's man|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 14 July 2007}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
Lit was born on 7 April 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/QQROHdQ7grZ4gt-8_tefFX2SQIY/appointments|title=Avtar Singh LIT personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK}}</ref> He lived in [[Osterley]], in a house estimated to be worth £2.5 million-<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/2113422|title = Avtar Lit | Bankruptcy Orders | the Gazette}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zoopla.co.uk/property/354-jersey-road/osterley/isleworth/tw7-5pl/24723497|title = Property details for 354 Jersey Road Isleworth TW7 5PL - Zoopla}}</ref> sold in 2022 for £3,650,000-<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dbkestates.com/property-details/31896055/middlesex/osterley/jersey-road-2 | title=Jersey House, Jersey Road, Osterley, TW7, 7 bedroom, House - Detached }}</ref> and was a father of 5.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2007/jul/15/uk.conservatives|title = The £4,800 cheque that tripped Cameron's man|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 14 July 2007}}</ref>

Lit died on 27 June 2023, at the age of 73.<ref>[https://radiotoday.co.uk/2023/06/sunrise-radio-founder-and-chairman-avtar-lit-dies-aged-73/ Sunrise Radio founder and Chairman Avtar Lit dies aged 73]</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Avtar Lit, founder of Sunrise Radio, the world’s largest South Asian radio network – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2023/07/08/avtar-lit-sunrise-radio-parliament-southall-obituary/ |access-date=8 July 2023 |publisher=The Telegraph |date=8 July 2023}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lit, Avtar}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:English Sikhs]]
[[Category:British people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Independent British political candidates]]
[[Category:People from Isleworth]]
[[Category:British radio executives]]
[[Category:British businesspeople of Indian descent]]

{{UK-business-bio-stub}}

Avtar Lit - Revision history

TimeStampBot at 06:14, 3 October 2023