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Steff Aquarone

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Councillor
Steff Aquarone
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for North Norfolk
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byDuncan Baker
Majority2,585 (5.5%)
Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Norfolk County Council
In office
20 April 2020 – 17 May 2021
DeputyDan Roper
Preceded byEd Maxfield
Succeeded byBrian Watkins
Member of Norfolk County Council for Melton Constable
Assumed office
4 May 2017
Preceded byDavid Ramsbotham
Majority199 (6.2%)
Personal details
BornMay 1984 (age 40)
Blickling, Norfolk, England
Political partyLiberal Democrats
SpouseJill
EducationNorwich School
Alma materUniversity of Warwick
ProfessionEntrepreneur

Steffan Luke Aquarone[1][2] is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk since 2024. He is also an entrepreneur in the film and technology sectors. 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]

In 2014, Aquarone was named by the Daily Mirror as one of the Top 20 most influential media figures under 30.[6]

Education

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Born and raised in Blickling, Norfolk,[7] Aquarone was educated at home as a member of Education Otherwise until the age of 12, before attending Norwich School. He then read Politics and International Relations at the University of Warwick, graduating with a BA in 2006.

Business

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In 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[8] in order to acquire regional post-production facility Oakslade Studios.[9] 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.[10]

Aquarone co-owned feature film production company Immense Productions with author Guy Browning.[11] Their feature film Tortoise in Love, on which Aquarone was producer,[12] was released in the UK in 2012.[13] Immense Productions was dissolved in November 2015.[14]

In 2011, Aquarone co-founded peer-to-peer[15] mobile payments platform Droplet.[16] In 2013, Droplet was named among the 'Top 25 UK Startups' by influential technology blog Mashable.[17] Droplet closed in 2016 after the founders were unable to scale it to become profitable.[18]

He has worked through Econsultancy[19] with brands like Sony, Ralph Lauren, and General Mills and gives talks on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation. Econsultancy sold to Centaur Media PLC[20] in 2012.

He joined online video platform Buto in 2010[21] becoming strategy director in 2013. Buto sold to TwentyThree in 2019.[22]

Writing

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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

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On 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

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  1. ^ "Declaration of result of poll ... North Norfolk" (PDF). North Norfolk District Council. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 17 July 2024. Aquarone, Steffan Luke
  2. ^ "Steff Aquarone". UK Parliament. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  3. ^ Roxborough, Scott "How an English Village Bankrolled 'A Tortoise in Love'", The Hollywood Reporter, 12 May 2011. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  4. ^ MIPDoc 2011, "Crowdsourcing: the frontier of documentary and funding", Cannes, 3 April 2011. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  5. ^ "British comedy funded by village residents to show at Cannes", The Daily Telegraph 13 May 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Top 20 most influential media figures under 30", Daily Mirror 4 December 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Meet ex film producer preparing to stand for the Liberal Democrats". Fakenham and Wells Times. 6 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Think Enterprise Case Studies", 15 September 2010. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  9. ^ "4RFV", 2 October 2007. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  10. ^ [1], The London Gazette, 22 July 2008. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  11. ^ "Immense get a funny idea about business" The Birmingham Post 21 July 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  12. ^ IMDB [2] "IMDB". Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  13. ^ British Board of Film Classification "Tortoise in Love". Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
  14. ^ [3] "Immense Productions Limited on Companies House" Retrieved 27 April 2024
  15. ^ Cockburn, Russ "How traditional banking is failing people technologically" 4 April 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  16. ^ Birmingham Post "Birmingham entrepreneurs launch payment app for smartphones", The Birmingham Post 31 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  17. ^ [4] "25 Top UK Startups." Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  18. ^ [5] "Mobile payment app Droplet closes down" Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  19. ^ "Steffan Aquarone Digital Transformation Trainer and Consultant" Retrieved 20 May 2024.
  20. ^ "Centaur Media in £50m takeover of Econsultancy" Retrieved 20 May 2024
  21. ^ "An introduction to buto". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  22. ^ "We’ve acquired UK video platform, Buto". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
  23. ^ "Online Video Best Practice Guide", January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
  24. ^ "Fourth to First: How to Win a Local Election in Under Six Months", Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  25. ^ "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.
  26. ^ Scott, Geraldine (7 May 2017). "Norfolk's Liberal Democrats appoint new leadership team following local elections". Thetford and Brandon Times. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  27. ^ "New leader for Liberal Democrat group at Norfolk County Council". 20 April 2020.
  28. ^ 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.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ "Lib Dems name General Election challenger in North Norfolk". North Norfolk News. 21 September 2022.
  31. ^ "North Norfolk - General election results 2024". BBC News.
[edit]
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for North Norfolk
2024–present 		Incumbent
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