Mark Wright (politician)
Mark Wright | |
---|---|
Born |
1974 Bristol |
Dr Mark Wright is a software engineer and elected councillor in Bristol. He has been councillor for Cabot ward since 2005, and was re-elected in 2009 and 2013.[1] Between 2009 and 2011 he was Executive Councillor responsible for Housing, Service Improvement and IT on Bristol City Council in Bristol, England.[2]
Background
Mark Wright was born in Bristol in 1974, went to schools in Bristol and has a degree in chemistry from Bristol University. He also completed a PhD in astrophysics at Bristol University. This PhD on "interstellar hydroxyl masers" won the Royal Astronomical Society's prize for "Best PhD in the UK" in 2002[3]
Politics
In his role on the council executive, Mark Wright was responsible for nearly 30,000 council houses in the city that house over 60,000 residents – one of the largest retained stocks of housing in the country – and was responsible for the spend of about £150m of public money per year.[4] He has initiated the first council house building program in Bristol for nearly 30 years[5][6] and launched a drive to get empty homes in the city back into use.[7] Under his IT remit he also tightened the Council's rules on RIPA authorisations to limit council "snooping" on residents.[8][9][10] He was also chairman of one of the City Council's planning committees from 2007–2009.
He was a member of the South West Provisional Council[11] and sat on the "West of England Partnership" Planning and Housing Board, which oversees policy in the former Avon area.[12] He was a Governor of St George's Primary School, which he helped to save from closure in 2008.[13]
He has a record of opposing ID cards,[14][15] supporting tidal power in the Severn Estuary[16] and supporting civil liberties,[17][18][19] and campaigning for reform of Parliamentary expenses.[20] He has also campaigned against nuclear power[21][22] and against light pollution.[23][24] In 2006 he helped save a popular piece of graffiti by renowned local artist Banksy. An online petition Mark started collected over 3,500 signatures and was at that time the biggest e-Petition the council had ever received.[25]
He was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Bristol South constituency at the 2010 General Election. In May 2011 he was considered a contender for the Bristol Lib Dem leadership.[26]
Open Standards advocacy
Holding the responsibility for IT at Bristol City Council in 2009, Wright was a vocal proponent of Open Source,[27][28] open document formats,[29] and open data in UK local government.[30][31] He speaks at IT conferences to highlight the problems still faced by public sector organisations wanting to avoid "vendor lock-in", particularly to Microsoft.[32][33]
References
- ↑ Bristol City Council: Councillor Details
- ↑ Bristol Evening Post: Mr Wright who can do no wrong
- ↑ Royal Astronomical Society: Winners of the 2002 Thesis Prizes
- ↑ Bristol City Council: Budget 2009–2010
- ↑ This is Bristol: Bristol to build first council houses in 30 years
- ↑ eGov Monitor: Council wins another £2.3m to finance more new homes
- ↑ Bristol 24/7: Landlords have "Social responsibility" to fill empty homes
- ↑ This is Bristol: Bristol housing chief – we won't snoop on you
- ↑ Jack FM: Snooping Powers Only "Last Resort" in Bristol
- ↑ Bristol City Council: Council takes action to safeguard privacy
- ↑ South West Provincial Council Members
- ↑ West of England Partnership Planning and Housing Board
- ↑ This is Bristol: Two Bristol primaries axed – but one survives
- ↑ The Guardian: Council votes to oppose ID cards
- ↑ This is Bristol: 'Bristol schools letting in ID cards by the back door'
- ↑ This is Somerset: Lib Dems oppose barrage across Bristol Channel
- ↑ The BBC: Bristol plans to restrict outdoor play in parks withdrawn
- ↑ The Guardian: Bristol plans ban for tree-climbing, skateboarding and 'annoying' football
- ↑ The Daily Mail: Killjoy council tries to BAN youngsters from climbing trees...
- ↑ This is Bristol: Would-be Bristol MP backs calls to change politicians' expenses
- ↑ Original 106.5: Bristolians "Should Have Say" On Nuclear Plans
- ↑ Bristol 24/7: Call for city to oppose new nuclear power plants
- ↑ Bristol City Council: Help us reduce unnecessary floodlighting says council housing chief
- ↑ Build.co.uk: Reduce Floodlighting, Says Housing Chief
- ↑ Bristol Indymedia: Help protect Banksy's Park St mural, again!
- ↑ Bristol Post
- ↑ The Register: Bristol Council mulls mixed FOSS, Microsoft upgrade
- ↑ thinq: Bristol councillor makes stand for open source
- ↑ Openforum Europe: UK Government pushes for open standards
- ↑ BEP Find out where your money's going
- ↑ Bristol 24/7: Wikipedia founder in Bristol to celebrate 10th anniversary
- ↑ Westminster eForum Keynote Seminar: Open source software
- ↑ Archived 12 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
External links
- Bristol City Council
- Bristol Liberal Democrats
- Bristol South Liberal Democrats
- Cabot Liberal Democrats
- Personal web page
- National Liberal Democrat profile page