David Joseph Henry is a writer, human rights activist and former parliamentary candidate from Manchester, England. He is a former pupil of Oakwood High School in Chorlton.[1]
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David Joseph Henry is a writer, human rights activist and former parliamentary candidate from Manchester, England. He is a former pupil of Oakwood High School in Chorlton.[1]
In 1999 he co-founded the Queer Youth Network.[2]In the same year, he represented the United Kingdom at the 10th commemorative meeting of the UNCRC in Geneva [3], as a member of the youth-led children's rights organisation Article 12.
He writes a regular column in London's QX magazine[example needed], and has been a contributor to the Pink Paper and OutNorthWest.[4] David has been outspoken in the media and petitioned the government on the issue of civil partnerships and has argued that they "create a two-tier system of inequality".[citation needed]
In June 2009 he attempted to perform a citizen's arrest on Salford MP Hazel Blears at a constituency party meeting in Swinton.[5]
He was selected to contest the Salford and Eccles seat at the 2010 general election,[6] beating presumptive nominee[7] Merseyside TUC leader Alec McFadden by a majority vote after responding to Martin Bell's call for a "community champion" during a public meeting in Eccles.[8][9][10] He stood for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) and received 730 votes (1.8% share of the total votes) and Hazel Blears received 16,655 (40.1% of the overall share of the vote).[11] Despite the distribution of votes, David's campaign generated notable media interest.[12][13]
Comedian Mark Steel co-hosted a fundraising gig at the Dancehouse Theatre in support of Henry's election campaign.[14] He was shadowed by a film crew and was the focus of the 30-minute documentary film The Candidate which premièred on Channel M. Described as an "intimate and amusing portrait".[15] It has since been shown at a number of film festivals and has received acclaim after being nominated for the Royal Television Society Awards, Exposures 2001 and the Salford International Film Festival.[16][17]
In 2022 he was announced as a Green Party candidate for the Salford and Eccles constituency at the next general election.[18]