Richard Ashcroft a limited number of appearances in 2003, Ashcroft was absent from the music business for about two years. He later explained this in 2006, stating that "[e]veryone got it into their heads over the last few years that I was in my ivory tower like Lennon, baking bread all day. The fact of the matter was that I was bringing up kids". Ashcroft began playing gigs again in mid-2005, and, on 2 July at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited him to perform with them during their set. They performed The Verve's hit "Bitter Sweet Symphony", after
Michael Ashcroft Liberal Party on 28 July 2010. Developing from work he did for the Conservative Party in his Deputy Chairman role, since 2010 Lord Ashcroft has been a major independent public pollster of British political opinion. This has included polling at constituency level, which is rare in British psephology. Lord Ashcroft Polls' results are freely available online and are frequently discussed in various media outlets. In 2013, Ashcroft stated that he has given tens of millions of pounds to good causes over the years. In May 2013, he pledged to donate more than half of his money to good causes, and