Tory bullying scandal: Who is David Cameron's best mate Lord Andrew Feldman?

David Cameron once described Lord Andrew Feldman as one of his best friends and the pair certainly have a lot in common. Friends since their days as tennis partners at Oxford, Feldman has been a next-door neighbour, fixer and fundraiser for Cameron since the earliest days of his political career.

Feldman is seen as the epitome of the wealthy, public school-educated figures that Cameron has surrounded himself with, both in the run up to and during his leadership. A multi-millionaire management consultant-turned-barrister, Feldman joined the family fashion business, Jayroma, when he was 29.

A neighbour of Cameron (Feldman lives in Holland Park and Cameron has a house in Notting Hill), Feldman gave £10,000 to his campaign for Tory leadership in 2005 and raised tens of thousands more from other business backers and wealthy individuals. After a stint as deputy treasurer, in 2008 he was made chief executive and finally in 2010 co-chair of the Conservative Party.

Once Cameron took power, he gave Feldman a peerage and an office close to his own in Downing Street, the Telegraph reported in 2013. The move rankled some Conservatives. "What was it for, other than being Dave's mate?" one unnamed senior Tory MP told the newspaper.

Since joining the Lords, Feldman has been an elusive figure. His biography page on the House of Lords website contains no information and he has only given one speech since joining Britain's upper house. He told of his poor background in London's East End and his family's success with Jayroma. He rarely grants media interviews.

Lord Feldman was embroiled in a spat in 2013 when the media reported that the Tory chairman referred to party activists as "swivel-eyed loons", a statement that he strongly denied. A month later, the Guardian claimed that Feldman's company, Jayroma, had not paid corporation tax but had given tens of thousands of pounds to the Tories.

Now Feldman is in the spotlight again. Ray Johnson, the father of Tory activist Elliot Johnson who committed suicide after complaining of bullying by Tory party officials, has called for Feldman to resign. Ray Johnson told the BBC that Feldman "bore responsibility" for his son's death because he was chairman at the time that he took his own life.

Asked about Feldman on the Today programme, Johnson said: "I agree with that. I think Lord Feldman was in charge when my son was being bullied [...] so the responsibility lies squarely on [his] shoulders."

Lord Feldman has claimed that he was unaware of allegations of bullying until August this year at which point he set up an internal inquiry. That inquiry is ongoing. But the Telegraph reported last week that Mark Clarke, known as the "Tatler Tory", was expected to tell an independent inquiry that Feldman was aware of the claims of young Tories. Feldman has denied the claims.