List of Britain's richest released

London -- The richest 1,000 people in Britain have seen their wealth quadruple since 1997, figures show.

The Sunday Times Rich List showed the collective wealth of the nation's 1,000 richest grew to about $820 billion from $197 billion in 1997.

Total net wealth during the same period has slightly more than doubled in the 11 years that Britain was under a Labor government, the London newspaper said.

"The 11 years of Labor have been absolutely fantastic for the super-rich," said Philip Beresford, compiler of the list. "Having a friendly Labor government has almost been better than having a Tory one; it has neutered politicians on the left."

The newspaper said the wealthiest man in Britain is the steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, whose fortune is estimated at $53.7 billion, making him the sixth richest person in the world.

In the No. 2 slot is Roman Abramovich, the Russian owner of the Chelsea soccer club, worth an estimated $23 billion, followed by the Duke of Westminster worth nearly $14 billion, the newspaper said.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.