Born into a
Jewish family as the son of a mathematics teacher, Luder attended
The Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School,
Elstree before reading Economics and Economic History at
University College London (BA). He then worked as a tax accountant for
Arthur Andersen and later
Grant Thornton. He regularly comments on tax matters and helped to found the
Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers, and is a
liveryman of the
Coopers' Company. He entered local government as a
Labour councillor on
Bedford Borough Council, serving for 23 years from 1976 to 1999. Luder also stood for Parliament as the Labour candidate for
Yeovil in
1979. Luder was
Aldermanic Sheriff of London for 2007–08 and was elected
Lord Mayor on 29 September 2008, taking office in the "Silent Ceremony" on 7 November. In 2008, Luder and his wife were involved in a dispute with their neighbours over the neighbours' cat. Apparently the Luders had refused their neighbours' request to stop feeding the animal, who was overweight and had a heart condition, and in fact had shut the cat in their home for 36 hours while they were away. On 28 March 2012, Luder was announced as the new chairman of
Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He took up the post on 1 July that year. Shortly after his selection in January 2015 as a UKIP candidate for the 2015 general election, Luder stood down as Trust chairman.
Politics In December 2014, Luder was one of five people on the shortlist to become
United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) candidate for the constituency of
South Basildon and East Thurrock at the
2015 general election. At the initial selection meeting he was not chosen as the candidate. Shortly afterwards, the successful candidate, Kerry Smith, resigned as UKIP's nominee for the seat after he was recorded making offensive remarks about fellow party members in a telephone conversation. A new selection was held in January 2015, which Luder won. Luder contested the general election and came second, polling 12,097 votes (26.5% of the total), 7,692 votes behind the incumbent
Conservative candidate,
Stephen Metcalfe. Smith polled 401 votes and finished in fifth place. ==References==