From militant to mogul.

For someone who once said money has no interest to him, former British politician Derek Hatton has completed a surprising U-turn in life and become a multi-millionaire property magnate. This is the very same Derek Hatton who became the voice of the working classes while battling with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher throughout the 1980s while a leading member of Militant Tendency and former deputy leader of Liverpool City Council. The firebrand Marxist left his political life behind more than 20 years ago and now devotes his time to buying, developing and selling property in Cyprus. His former 1920s semi-detached home in Liverpool has now been replaced by a dhs6 million luxury villa on the Mediterranean island and a luxury apartment in Cheshire, England. Hatton, in Dubai to catch up with an old friend, told 7DAYS of his remarkable transformation in life and of his current booming property business. "I finished in politics in 1987. The Labour Party was changing, the world was changing and I was changing. It was clear there was no room for me in politics and I had no desire for what it involved anymore," Hatton said. He has successfully tried his hand at a number of ventures including modelling, radio host and after-dinner speaker. With his son he set up a highly lucrative web site that he sold a few years ago to a newspaper company in the UK for dhs30 million. The proceeds have now been used to fund his property company Morpheus Investments, selling luxury apartments, villas and penthouses to expats from across the world. He said: "Dubai's property market has become over-heated and we're getting a lot of expats now turning towards Cyprus as a place to invest in. I'm looking at Dubai to see if there may be any opportunities left out here, but it seems like a lot of money is heading back towards Europe now. "We have expats from all over buying property in Cyprus including Russians, South Africans and British. Like Dubai we have year-round sunshine, less than ten per cent tax, great golfing and a fantastic way of life. Many people who have never visited are still investing there. Obviously the global credit crisis has affected us and slowed things down, but prices are still rising and there is no indication that property prices in Cyprus will be hit like in other places of the world. "Mortgages can still be secured with a 15 per cent deposit of the purchase price." Splitting his year between Cyprus and the UK, he has little time left over to base himself in the UAE. "I first came here 15 years ago and was amazed then by the city. Obviously it's changed enormously. You keep looking up at the buildings. It's just got something about it. I don't want to miss any opportunity, so things could happen in Dubai in the future, but right now I'm very confident in the long-term success of Cyprus." The 61-year-old has never been shy of speaking his mind as anyone involved in politics in the UK during the 1980s will testify. So has age mellowed the former revolutionary? Asked to elaborate on his recent and somewhat unflattering comments concerning Margaret Thatcher - he simply replied "there's nothing to comment on there, let's talk about Cyprus and investments." It's property not politics now for Derek Hatton, after all "time changes everyone" he says. For more information see morpheusinvestments.com

2009 Al Sidra Media LLC

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company