Royal Horseguards Hotel Royal Horseguards Hotel The Royal Horseguards Hotel is a 5-star London hotel situated in the area of Whitehall. It is operated by Guoman Hotels, a subsidiary of Thistle Hotels. Whitehall Court was constructed as a block of luxury residential apartments in 1884 by the Liberal MP and property developer Jabez Balfour. The building's construction was the centrepiece of an elaborate pyramid scheme for fraud by Balfour, through the Liberator Building Society which he controlled. In 1892 the Society collapsed, leaving thousands of investors penniless. Instead of advancing money to home buyers, the Society had advanced money to property companies to
Howard Johnson (politician) Howard Johnson (politician) Howard Sydney Johnson (25 December 1910 – 13 September 2000) was a British solicitor and building society director who became an unorthodox Conservative Party Member of Parliament. Johnson, who considered himself a radical, espoused many positions which put him outside the mainstream including opposition to fox hunting and support for unilateral nuclear disarmament. After leaving Parliament he passed through the Liberal Party and eventually into supporting the Labour Party. Johnson was a native of Brighton, and was born into a Conservative family. His mother's family had a long connection with Brighton council, having been councillors and aldermen.