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Steff Aquarone
British politician and entrepreneur From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Steffan Luke Aquarone[2][3] (born 12 May 1984[4]) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk since 2024.
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (July 2024) |
He is also an entrepreneur in film and technology. His projects involve collaboration between large groups of people with a common interest[5] and are often crowd-source financed,[6] the most notable example being feature-film Tortoise in Love which was made by a village in Oxfordshire.[7]
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Education
Born and raised in Blickling, Norfolk,[8] 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
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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[9] in order to acquire regional post-production facility Oakslade Studios.[10] 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.[11]
Aquarone co-owned feature film production company Immense Productions with author Guy Browning.[12] Their feature film Tortoise in Love, on which Aquarone was producer,[13] was released in the UK in 2012.[14] Immense Productions was dissolved in November 2015.[15]
In 2011, Aquarone co-founded peer-to-peer[16] mobile payments platform Droplet.[17] In 2013, Droplet was named among the 'Top 25 UK Startups' by influential technology blog Mashable.[18] Droplet closed in 2016 after the founders were unable to scale it to become profitable.[19]
He has worked through Econsultancy[20] with brands like Sony, Ralph Lauren, and General Mills and gives talks on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation. Econsultancy sold to Centaur Media PLC[21] in 2012.
He joined online video platform Buto in 2010[22] becoming strategy director in 2013. Buto sold to TwentyThree in 2019.[23]
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Writing
In 2014, Aquarone was named by the Daily Mirror as one of the Top 20 most influential media figures under 30.[24]
Aquarone writes on digital marketing topics including online video. In 2012 he wrote "Online Video: A Best Practice Guide" for digital publishers Econsultancy.[25]
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.[26]
Politics
On 4 May 2017, he was elected as county councillor for the Melton Constable division of Norfolk County Council.[27] He was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council.[28]
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.[29] He stood down as leader following the 2021 election.[30][31]
In September 2022, the Liberal Democrats picked him as the prospective parliamentary candidate for North Norfolk at the 2024 general election.[32] 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%.[33]
He was elected Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party in September 2025 beating Anna Sabine, who is Ed Davey's parliamentary private secretary, by 44 votes to 27.[1]
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References
External links
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