David Joseph Henry


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.

Biography

In 1999 he co-founded the Queer Youth Network.
He writes a regular column in London's QX magazine, and has been a contributor to the Pink Paper and OutNorthWest. 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".
In June 2009 he attempted to perform a citizen's arrest on Salford MP Hazel Blears at a constituency party meeting in Swinton.
He was selected to contest the Salford and Eccles seat at the 2010 general election, beating presumptive nominee 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. He received 730 votes and Hazel Blears received 16,655. Despite the distribution of votes, David's campaign generated notable media interest. 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". 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.