Chapter 550: The Arrival

The position of Honorary Director of the British Chinese Chamber of Commerce was immensely beneficial to Xia Yu. Leveraging this identity, he quickly integrated into the Chinese business community.

Xia Yu was introduced to the membership by Wu Chengde. Without mentioning Xia Yu's collaboration with the Wu family, even Wu Chengde, given Xia Yu's superior capabilities, could not afford to just offer him a regular membership. Hence, after internal discussion, Xia Yu was given the title of Honorary Director, and there were no objections from the other directors.

Since Xia Yu had promised Gerard Pat to mobilize the Chinese community to vote for him, he directly approached Wu Chengde to convene a meeting with the senior members of the Chamber.

At the meeting, Xia Yu outlined the stakes, the Conservative Party's chances, and its benefits. In the end, his proposal was approved, with the Chamber of Commerce leading the call for Chinese people to support the Conservative Party and Gerard Pat.

Of course, the approval of this proposal was also due to Xia Yu's face.

The British Chinese Chamber of Commerce wielded significant influence over the Chinese community. After the Chamber took action, Chinese voters immediately cast their ballots for the Conservative Party and Gerard Pat.

Xia Yu's actions were also swift. The Daily Telegraph shifted its stance to support the Conservative Party, significantly increasing the coverage of the Conservative Party and Gerard Pat.

Although this led to a slight drop in daily circulation, with some extreme supporters of the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats canceling their subscriptions, Xia Yu did not mind. Compared to the vast political benefits, the drop in newspaper sales was negligible.

If substantial benefits could be gained, Xia Yu wouldn't bat an eye at sacrificing The Daily Telegraph.

As for Gerard Pat, with Xia Yu's financial support, many pre-planned political activities were immediately activated. He frequently appeared in London, significantly increasing his public profile.

Despite the campaign only having just begun, by mid-February, polls showed Gerard Pat's support had surged to 49%, a 10% increase from the previous month's 39%. And this was just the beginning!

As for Labour's candidate Nick Keeson, his support in the polls dropped from 40% last month to 33%, causing him great alarm and forcing the Labour Party to make emergency adjustments.

However, the Conservative Party was not idle. Seeing Gerard Pat, the new political star within their ranks, making strides, they were pleasantly surprised and poured more resources into consolidating and expanding their advantage.

London, being the capital of the UK, made the mayoral position extremely important. Regardless of whether the Conservative Party could reclaim power, it was crucial to secure the mayoralty.

If successful, having a friendly mayor in London would often mean that policies could be strongly supported and implemented, without worrying about being hampered.

If they failed to govern, winning the mayoral position would still trouble their opponents and set the stage for the next election.

While Xia Yu had already taken action politically, he did not slack off in his business affairs.

After Duke Carter Howard's involvement, the core position of the Rolls-Royce acquisition team shifted to Elena, and George Berkeley had no objections.

The acquisition finally showed signs of progress, entering a normal trajectory. Although the process wasn't fast, Xia Yu was not in a hurry.

He knew that acquiring Rolls-Royce was not something that could be completed quickly. The decisive period would be after May. If the Conservative Party succeeded, the acquisition resistance would greatly diminish.

Good things take time; patience was necessary!

Regarding the establishment of the Chinese business consortium, Xia Yu put a lot of thought into it.

The privatization process of Huashang Bank had already begun. A few shareholders chose to exit after Wu Chengde's efforts.

Wu Chengde's stake in Huashang Bank had increased significantly. Xia Yu's Bright Fund also didn't sit idle, increasing its stake from 15% to 18.6%.

Once the internal equity issues were resolved, Huashang Bank would formally apply for delisting and privatization with the London Stock Exchange. Xia Yu believed that at that time, it would be easy for him to increase his stake to over 20%.

As for the ongoing turmoil in Iran, gold prices in London continued to rise. By March 4th, the situation experienced another major change.

Under intense pressure from Western countries, Iran resumed oil exports, and the soaring international oil prices were somewhat restrained.

However, the adverse effects of the months-long surge in oil prices had already manifested. U.S. inflation worsened, and the dollar continued to depreciate, causing international capital to remain entrenched in the gold market, with international gold prices continuing to rise.

The rate of increase was no longer as rapid as before.

Following Xia Yu's instructions, Liu Xiao and others began to act, engaging in a buy-and-sell strategy, extracting funds in batches and leaving a small portion of funds to use financial leverage to accept gold futures sell orders from the fund.

In simpler terms, they used leveraged funds from banks to buy gold futures in their own accounts. When the futures were transferred to another account, the bank's money ended up in their pockets.

This approach had its benefits: it was relatively confidential and more convenient.

After a few months, international capital remained in the London gold market, and the momentum of the dollar had become clear. Thus, buying gold in the market had become very difficult, even for those with money, and required a premium.

At this time, Xia Yu quietly boarded a flight back to Hong Kong.

After internal discussions among Hong Kong businessmen and communication with the mainland, the return was set for March 8th. Xia Yu had to go back, with competent subordinates managing affairs in the UK, allowing Xia Yu to leave with peace of mind.

Accompanying Xia Yu was also the elderly Mr. Hua Sheng, along with a large quantity of antiques.

Upon returning, the antiques would be stored in Xia Yu's mansion, with the specific arrangement handled by Hua Sheng.

At the same time, Hua Sheng would also meet with his friends to discuss establishing a private museum.

Building a large private museum was not a quick task, requiring at least a few years. Given Hua Sheng's advanced age, he was deeply concerned about not seeing the museum completed in his lifetime.

After being away from Hong Kong for several months, Xia Yu returned, not attending to work, and declined invitations from various Hong Kong elites for welcoming and entertaining him. He went straight home to be with his family.

After a warm dinner, Xia Yu spent the evening chatting with his parents in the living room, sharing many interesting stories from the UK and catching up on what had happened at home over the past few months, especially concerning his younger siblings' studies.

That night was joyful and warm, and Xia Yu felt completely relaxed.

The next day, as the time to return north approached and many details remained unclear, Xia Yu arranged to meet with Huo Yingdong at Bao Yugang's home early in the morning to get updated on the situation.