Steffan Luke Aquarone (born 12 May 1984 ) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk since 2024.
He is also an entrepreneur in film and technology. His projects involve collaboration between large groups of people with a common interestRoxborough, Scott "How an English Village Bankrolled 'A Tortoise in Love'", The Hollywood Reporter, 12 May 2011. Retrieved on 9 June 2012. and are often crowd-source financed,MIPDoc 2011, "Crowdsourcing: the frontier of documentary and funding", Cannes, 3 April 2011. Retrieved on 9 June 2012. the most notable example being feature-film Tortoise in Love which was made by a village in Oxfordshire."British comedy funded by village residents to show at Cannes", The Daily Telegraph 13 May 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
Education Born and raised in Blickling, Norfolk, 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 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"Think Enterprise Case Studies", 15 September 2010. Retrieved on 9 June 2012. in order to acquire regional post-production facility Oakslade Studios."4RFV", 2 October 2007. Retrieved on 9 June 2012. 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., The London Gazette, 22 July 2008. Retrieved on 9 June 2012.
Aquarone co-owned feature film production company Immense Productions with author Guy Browning."Immense get a funny idea about business" The Birmingham Post 21 July 2008. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Their feature film Tortoise in Love, on which Aquarone was producer,IMDB "IMDB". Retrieved on 9 June 2012. was released in the UK in 2012.British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved on 9 June 2012. Immense Productions was dissolved in November 2015. "Immense Productions Limited on Companies House" Retrieved 27 April 2024
In 2011, Aquarone co-founded peer-to-peerCockburn, Russ "How traditional banking is failing people technologically" 4 April 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012. mobile payments platform Droplet.Birmingham Post "Birmingham entrepreneurs launch payment app for smartphones", The Birmingham Post 31 March 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012. In 2013, Droplet was named among the 'Top 25 UK Startups' by influential technology blog Mashable. "25 Top UK Startups." Retrieved 9 May 2014. Droplet closed in 2016 after the founders were unable to scale it to become profitable. "Mobile payment app Droplet closes down" Retrieved 27 April 2024.
He has worked through Econsultancy"Steffan Aquarone Digital Transformation Trainer and Consultant" Retrieved 20 May 2024. with brands like Sony, Ralph Lauren, and General Mills and gives talks on innovation, entrepreneurship and digital transformation. Econsultancy sold to Centaur Media PLC"Centaur Media in £50m takeover of Econsultancy" Retrieved 20 May 2024 in 2012.
He joined online video platform Buto in 2010"An introduction to buto". Retrieved 8 May 2024. becoming strategy director in 2013. Buto sold to TwentyThree in 2019."We’ve acquired UK video platform, Buto". Retrieved 8 May 2024.
Writing In 2014, Aquarone was named by the Daily Mirror as one of the Top 20 most influential media figures under 30."Top 20 most influential media figures under 30", Daily Mirror 4 December 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
Aquarone writes on digital marketing topics including online video. In 2012 he wrote "Online Video: A Best Practice Guide" for digital publishers Econsultancy."Online Video Best Practice Guide", January 2012. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
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."Fourth to First: How to Win a Local Election in Under Six Months", Retrieved 12 April 2020.
Politics On 4 May 2017, he was elected as county councillor for the Melton Constable division of Norfolk County Council. He was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the council.
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. He stood down as leader following the 2021 election.
In September 2022, the Liberal Democrats picked him as the prospective parliamentary candidate for North Norfolk at the 2024 general election. 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%.
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. In September 2026 he chose not to seek re-election to the role, being succeeded by Roz Savage.
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