David Elston

Cllr
David Anthony Elston
Former Deputy Leader of Pirate Party UK
In office
7 July 2015 – 28 February 2016
Preceded by Position established
Succeeded by Vacant
Community Councillor
for St Athan's Flemingston & Eglwys Brewis ward [1]
Assumed office
1st March 2016
Preceded by Vacant
Majority Co-option
Personal details
Born (1987-02-01) 1 February 1987
South Wales
Political party Pirate Party UK (2014–present)
Website Official website

David "Dave" A Elston, is an activist and politician and described as a parentician[2] in the same style that Birgitta Jónsdóttir is described as a poetician. Elston was Deputy Leader of Pirate Party UK from 7 July 2015 to 28 February 2016.[3]

Elston has given interviews and campaigned on digital rights, copyright law and civil liberties in the past.

Professional career

Elston has a University education.[4] Elston is primarily qualified in IT but his education extends to Business, Admin, Management and Psychology.[5]

Elston is also a founder and trustee for the charity SAINTS set up in St Athan to help improve the areas of play[6] and set up the local Neighbourhood Watch[7]

David is also currently a director of East Vale Residents Company Limited [8]

Political career

David Anthony Elston is the first Pirate Party UK candidate in any level of Government. Elston founded the Wales branch;[9] Pirate Party Wales which supports increased recognition of the Welsh language, including reform of the Welsh Language Act 1993 and free Welsh courses for all Welsh nationals. They also support further devolution to Wales and increased powers for the Welsh Assembly.[10]

Elston supported the Green Party "rebel" and MEP candidate[11] Andy Chyba's bid for Wales Green Party Leadership[12] and shares Andy's view on being anti-fracking.[13] Elston is an environmentalist but concedes that some popular environmentalist views are unsustainable.[14]

Elston has been known to take part in some eco-activities such as a litter pick with the local school.[15]

Elston was first elected uncontested as a Governor on the Board of Governors of the Pirate Party UK in January 2015 and 15 April 2015 was announced to be the official Pirate Party UK candidate in the 2015 General Election,[16] where he signed the Muscular Dystrophy UK Manifesto[17] along with the Frack Free Promise from Greenpeace[18] and later received 106 votes (0.3%).[19] Elston brought the Pirate Party into the same League as the established Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and beat the National Front (UK).[20]

As a member of Pirate Party UK, Elston has been in press intermittently but mostly advocates for increased Openness[21] at all levels of government[22] and is a believer in Direct Democracy.[23] Elston expresses that Pirates should focus on winning in local elections first.[2] Naturally with a name like Pirate Party, the press often feature Elston with other unusual parties.[24]

In 2016 Elston was successful in his co-option to become a Community Councillor for the ward of Flemingston and Eglwys Brewis on the St Athan Community Council[25] and gives comment in local press around local issues such as road safety.[26]

In July 2016 the UK release of Pokemon Go was announced and Elston was invited to an interview with Russian Military TV regarding the dangers of its data gathering.[27]

Electoral Performance

Parliamentary elections

Date of election Constituency Party Votes % of votes Result
5 May 2015 General Election Bridgend Pirate Party UK 106 0.3 Not elected

Community elections

Date of election Ward Council Party Votes % of votes Result
1 March 2016 By-Election Flemingston & Eglwys Brewis St Athan Pirate Party UK Co-option Unknown Co-opted

References

  1. ↑ "Councillors - St Athan Community Council".
  2. 1 2 "Interview with David Elston - PirateTimes". 18 April 2016.
  3. ↑ "David Anthony Elston - The Pirate Party".
  4. ↑ Administrator, walesonline (15 July 2008). "University of Glamorgan results 2008".
  5. ↑ "David Anthony Elston's CV, Bridgend, MP candidate, Pirate Party UK - Democracy Club CVs".
  6. ↑ "St Athan charity awarded £2,000 improvement grant". Barry GEM. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Pirate Party growing pains: Murder-suicide, a fetish model, and Alþingi". Ars Technica. David Meyer. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  8. ↑ "Companies House Return for East Vale Residents Company Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "Pirates Emerge in Wales – Ready for Coming Election - PirateTimes". 21 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Pirate Party Wales: We need to become a digital dragon". The Daily Wales. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  11. ↑ WorldViewShow (21 January 2014). "Battling the Tory Frackers: Andy Chyba's Selflessness" – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "Small is beautiful". 22 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Caredig I Natur (CIN): Fracking And Bridgend".
  14. ↑ "Your Constituency".
  15. ↑ http://www.stathanprimaryschool.co.uk/page/?title=Our+Eco-+Committee&pid=29
  16. ↑ "General Election candidates for Bridgend and Ogmore announced". 15 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Election day – over 200 candidates support our manifesto". Muscular Dystrophy UK. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  18. ↑ "Frack Free Promise". Greenpeace. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  19. ↑ http://www1.bridgend.gov.uk/media-centre/2015/may-2015/general-election-2015/bridgend-constituency.aspx
  20. ↑ "Bridgend - Constituencies -".
  21. ↑ English, Pat (1 May 2015). "Meet the Bridgend candidates hoping to get your vote".
  22. ↑ "Pirate Party politics". 22 January 2016.
  23. ↑ http://www.oggybloggyogwr.com/2015/05/pirate-party-hoisting-jolly-roger-above.html
  24. ↑ James, David (26 April 2015). "Cannabis campaigner among the General Election candidates you may not have seen".
  25. ↑ http://www.stathancommunitycouncil.org.uk/St-Athan-CC/UserFiles/Files/Minutes%202016/Minutes%2003.March%202016.pdf
  26. ↑ http://html5.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/default.aspx?pubname=The%20Barry%20Gem&pubid=4f33abdd-b92f-43c1-81e0-cfca04451d6b
  27. ↑ "International News Department". Zvezda (Star) Media. Retrieved 22 July 2016.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Anthony Elston.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.