Matthew Elliott (politics)

Matthew Elliott (born 12 February 1978[1]) is the founder and former Chief Executive[2] of the TaxPayers' Alliance and Big Brother Watch. He also acted as Campaign Director for the successful NOtoAV campaign in the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum. He is the Founder and was the Chief Executive of Business for Britain.[3], and is now the Chief Executive of the Vote Leave Campaign Committee, having founded and been the chief executive of the main Vote Leave organisation.

Biography

Elliott was born in Leeds and attended Leeds Grammar School. He studied government at the London School of Economics.[1]

He served as press officer for the European Foundation from 2000, and political secretary to Timothy Kirkhope MEP from 2001,[1] before co-founding the TaxPayers’ Alliance in 2004[4] as a “non-partisan, grassroots campaign for lower taxes”.[5] In 2008, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.[1] Since 2014, he has been a trustee of the Social Affairs Unit, a right-leaning think-tank.[6]

In 2009, he founded the civil liberties and privacy pressure group Big Brother Watch, in response to “the prevailing climate of authoritarian and intrusive policies being pursued by the British state”.[7]

In 2011, he took a sabbatical to act as Campaign Director for the NOtoAV campaign during the UK Alternative Vote referendum. NOtoAV were successful in maintaining the current voting system,[8] receiving 67.9% of the votes cast.[9]

Elliott has been described by the BBC as “one of the most effective lobbyists at Westminster”,[10] and in 2010 was named by Total Politics magazine as one of the top 25 political influencers in the UK.[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Who's Who (164 ed.). A & C Black. 2011. ISBN 9781408142295.
  2. ↑ Important news from Matthew Elliott, founder of the TaxPayers' Alliance The TaxPayers' Alliance, 27 July 2012
  3. ↑ "Campaign Team". Business for Britain. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  4. ↑ Our History, The TaxPayers’ Alliance, accessed 29 March 2012
  5. ↑ Matthew Elliott - Chief Executive The TaxPayers’ Alliance, accessed 29 March 2012
  6. ↑ Who's Who 2014. A & C Black. November 2014.
  7. ↑ Matthew Elliott - Chief Executive Big Brother Watch, accessed 29 March 2012
  8. ↑ Vote 2011: UK rejects alternative vote, BBC News, 7 May 2011
  9. ↑ UK-wide referendum on the Parliamentary voting system, Electoral Commission, accessed 29 March 2012
  10. ↑ Yes to AV campaign ‘will be fun’, say organisers, BBC News, 25 August 2011
  11. ↑ Top 50 political influencers, Total Politics, 19 February 2010
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