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Steffan Luke Aquarone[1][2] is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk since 2024.
Steff Aquarone | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for North Norfolk | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Duncan Baker |
| Majority | 2,585 (5.5%) |
| Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Norfolk County Council | |
| In office 20 April 2020 – 17 May 2021 | |
| Deputy | Dan Roper |
| Preceded by | Ed Maxfield |
| Succeeded by | Brian Watkins |
| Member of Norfolk County Council for Melton Constable | |
| Assumed office 4 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | David Ramsbotham |
| Majority | 199 (6.2%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Steffan Luke Aquarone May 1984 (age 40) Blickling, Norfolk, England |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Spouse | Jill |
| Education | Norwich School |
| Alma mater | University of Warwick |
| Profession | Entrepreneur |
He is also an entrepreneur in film and technology. His projects involve collaboration between large groups of people with a common interest[3] and are often crowd-source financed,[4] the most notable example being feature-film Tortoise in Love which was made by a village in Oxfordshire.[5]
Education
editBorn and raised in Blickling, Norfolk,[6] Aquarone was educated at home as a member of Education Otherwise until the age of 12, before being privately educated at Norwich School. He then read politics and international relations at the University of Warwick, graduating with a BA in 2006.
Business
editIn 2004, Aquarone co-founded media business Ephex Media Limited with two fellow students at the University of Warwick. Ephex Media received investment from the Advantage Early Growth Fund in 2007[7] in order to acquire regional post-production facility Oakslade Studios.[8] The company made and edited corporate films for brands including Land Rover, Vodafone, Massey Ferguson and American Express. The business was placed into administration in 2008.[9]
Aquarone co-owned feature film production company Immense Productions with author Guy Browning.[10] Their feature film Tortoise in Love, on which Aquarone was producer,[11] was released in the UK in 2012.[12] Immense Productions was dissolved in November 2015.[13]
In 2011, Aquarone co-founded peer-to-peer[14] mobile payments platform Droplet.[15] In 2013, Droplet was named among the 'Top 25 UK Startups' by influential technology blog Mashable.[16] Droplet closed in 2016 after the founders were unable to scale it to become profitable.[17]
He has worked through Econsultancy[18] with brands like Sony, Ralph Lauren, and General Mills and gives talks on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation. Econsultancy sold to Centaur Media PLC[19] in 2012.
He joined online video platform Buto in 2010[20] becoming strategy director in 2013. Buto sold to TwentyThree in 2019.[21]
Writing
editIn 2014, Aquarone was named by the Daily Mirror as one of the Top 20 most influential media figures under 30.[22]
Aquarone writes on digital marketing topics including online video. In 2012 he wrote "Online Video: A Best Practice Guide" for digital publishers Econsultancy.[23]
In 2017, with his sister Freya, he published Fourth to First: How to win a local election in under six months. It recounts how he won a council ward for the Liberal Democrats at his first attempt, even though the party finished fourth in the previous contest for the ward.[24]
Politics
editOn 4 May 2017, he was elected as county councillor for the Melton Constable division of Norfolk County Council.[25] He was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council.[26]
He stood in the 2019 general election in the seat of Mid Norfolk finishing third. In April 2020 he replaced Ed Maxfield as group leader on Norfolk County Council.[27] He stood down as leader following the 2021 election.[28][29]
In September 2022, the Liberal Democrats picked him as the prospective parliamentary candidate for North Norfolk at the 2024 general election.[30] He won the election, gaining the seat from the Conservatives, with 19,488 votes (41.4%) and a majority of 2,585 over the second-placed Conservative candidate. There were five candidates and a turnout of 66%.[31]
References
edit- ^ "Declaration of result of poll ... North Norfolk" (PDF). North Norfolk District Council. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
Aquarone, Steffan Luke
- ^ "Steff Aquarone". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
- ^ Roxborough, Scott "How an English Village Bankrolled 'A Tortoise in Love'", The Hollywood Reporter, 12 May 2011. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ MIPDoc 2011, "Crowdsourcing: the frontier of documentary and funding", Cannes, 3 April 2011. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ "British comedy funded by village residents to show at Cannes", The Daily Telegraph 13 May 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ "Meet ex film producer preparing to stand for the Liberal Democrats". Fakenham and Wells Times. 6 November 2019.
- ^ "Think Enterprise Case Studies", 15 September 2010. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ "4RFV", 2 October 2007. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ [1], The London Gazette, 22 July 2008. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ "Immense get a funny idea about business" The Birmingham Post 21 July 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ IMDB [2] "IMDB". Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ British Board of Film Classification "Tortoise in Love". Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
- ^ [3] "Immense Productions Limited on Companies House" Retrieved 27 April 2024
- ^ Cockburn, Russ "How traditional banking is failing people technologically" 4 April 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ Birmingham Post "Birmingham entrepreneurs launch payment app for smartphones", The Birmingham Post 31 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ [4] "25 Top UK Startups." Retrieved 9 May 2014.
- ^ [5] "Mobile payment app Droplet closes down" Retrieved 27 April 2024.
- ^ "Steffan Aquarone Digital Transformation Trainer and Consultant" Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "Centaur Media in £50m takeover of Econsultancy" Retrieved 20 May 2024
- ^ "An introduction to buto". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "We’ve acquired UK video platform, Buto". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ "Top 20 most influential media figures under 30", Daily Mirror 4 December 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
- ^ "Online Video Best Practice Guide", January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
- ^ "Fourth to First: How to Win a Local Election in Under Six Months", Retrieved 12 April 2020.
- ^ "Conservatives take control after results of Norfolk County Council elections, but UKIP and Greens wiped out". Eastern Daily Press. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ Scott, Geraldine (7 May 2017). "Norfolk's Liberal Democrats appoint new leadership team following local elections". Thetford and Brandon Times. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
- ^ "New leader for Liberal Democrat group at Norfolk County Council". 20 April 2020.
- ^ Stuart Anderson (7 May 2021). "Norfolk and Suffolk Election 2021: Lib Dem leader quits in North". northnorfolknews.co.uk. North Norfolk News. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ Dan Grimmer (17 May 2021). "Lib Dems pick new leader for Norfolk County Council group". edp24.co.uk. East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
- ^ "Lib Dems name General Election challenger in North Norfolk". North Norfolk News. 21 September 2022.
- ^ "North Norfolk - General election results 2024". BBC News.