Bamford expressed an interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August 2006, but backed out when he was told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy.
Prime Minister David Cameron recommended Bamford for a peerage in 2010. However, Bamford withdrew his name from consideration days before the members were announced.
Bamford owns mansions in several countries (including in England Daylesford House and Wootton Lodge), a yacht and vintage cars. Although he was linked to offshore tax havens in the Panama papers through sole ownership of Casper Ltd., the company was inactive for its entire existence before being dissolved in 2012.
On 3 October 2013 he was created a life peer taking the title Baron Bamford, of Daylesford in the County of Gloucestershire and of Wootton in the County of Staffordshire.
In June 2016, Bamford wrote a letter in support of voting to leave the European Union to his employees. JCB has donated £100,000 to the Vote Leave campaign. In 2000, JCB was fined £22m (€39.6m) by the EU for antitrust breaches.
