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{{Infobox person
|name = Paul Staines
|image = Paul Staines.jpg
|image_size =
|caption = Staines in 2006
|birth_name = Paul De Laire Staines
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1967|2|11}}<ref name=McSmith>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/paul-staines-the-worm-of-westminster-6271509.html|title=Paul Staines: The worm of Westminster|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=29 June 2018|archive-date=3 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180403175201/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/paul-staines-the-worm-of-westminster-6271509.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|birth_place = [[Ealing
|education =
▲|known_for = [[Guido Fawkes (website)|Guido Fawkes]]
|
▲|alma_mater = [[University of Lincoln]]
|occupation = [[Political blog]]ger
|party = ''formerly associated with:''<br />[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]<br />[[Social Democratic Party (UK)
}}
'''Paul
Staines acquired an interest in politics as a [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] in the 1980s and did public relations for [[acid house]] parties in the early 1990s. He then spent several years in finance, first as a broker then as a trader. In 2001, he sued his fund's financial backer in a commercial dispute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/1324.html |title=Sprecher Grier Halberstam Llp & Anor v Walsh [2008] EWCA Civ 1324 (3 December 2008) |publisher=Bailii.org |access-date=20 May 2010 |archive-date=28 July 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728132037/http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2008/1324.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Consequently, Staines declared himself bankrupt in October 2003 after two years of litigation, and legal costs on both sides running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.<ref name=gazette-20031009>{{London Gazette|issue=57079|date= 9 October 2003|page=12536}}</ref>
In September 2004, Staines started publishing his political blog [[Guido Fawkes]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Fawkes|first=Guido|title=Blair Heart Flutters|url=http://order-order.com/2004/09/30/blair-heart-flutters/
== Early life ==
Paul De Laire Staines<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Submission-by-Paul-Staines.pdf|title=Leveson Inquiry Submission – Paul De Laire Staines|work=National Archives|access-date=7 November 2021|archive-date=22 January 2014|archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140122145147/http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Submission-by-Paul-Staines.pdf|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite tweet|user=GuidoFawkes|title=@EmmaKennedy @RyanDevlin_ its Paul de Laire Staines actually daaahling.|number=598063588658585600|access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref> was born in [[Ealing]], London, to
Staines grew up in [[Sudbury, London]]. Raised a [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]], he attended [[Salvatorian College]] Catholic grammar school in [[Harrow, London|Harrow]].<ref name="so" /><ref name=ecstasy /> Subsequently, he read business information studies at the Humberside College of Higher Education
|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 April 2009|title=Outed|publisher=Guido Fawkes}}</ref> and the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].<ref name="Hughes : It's a Straight Serious Choice">{{cite web|url=http://www.order-order.com/2006/02/hughes-its-straight-serious-choice.html |title=Hughes : It's a Straight Serious Choice |
▲}}</ref> and the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]].<ref name="Hughes : It's a Straight Serious Choice">{{cite web|url=http://www.order-order.com/2006/02/hughes-its-straight-serious-choice.html |title=Hughes : It's a Straight Serious Choice |website=order-order.com |date=8 February 2006 |access-date=20 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070514143145/http://www.order-order.com/2006/02/hughes-its-straight-serious-choice.html |archive-date=14 May 2007 }}</ref> Whilst studying at college in Hull in the 1980s, he was a member of the [[Federation of Conservative Students]].<ref name="theguardian2">{{cite news |last=Perkins|first=Anne|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/apr/07/guido-fawkes-a-cross-between-a-comic-and-a-propaganda-machine|title=Guido Fawkes: a cross between a comic and a propaganda machine|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=7 April 2018|access-date=8 April 2018}}</ref>
Staines lives in
== Politics ==
Staines is a libertarian who described in a 2000 publication,<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.libertarian.co.uk/freelife/fl037.pdf |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090629062812/http://www.libertarian.co.uk/freelife/fl037.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2009 |title=A Kinder, Gentler, Kind of Libertarianism: Reflections on Two Decades of Libertarianism |author=Paul D. Staines |page=8 |journal=Free Life |issue=37 |publisher=Libertarian Alliance |issn=0260-5112 |date=September 2000 |access-date=20 May 2010}}</ref> how he became a libertarian in 1980 after reading [[Karl Popper]]'s ''[[The Open Society and its Enemies]]''. He joined the [[Young Conservatives (UK)|Young Conservatives]] whilst at [[Humberside College of Higher Education]], "because they were the only people around who were anti-Socialist or at least anti-Soviet". Having joined the [[Federation of Conservative Students]], he described his politics as "Thatcher on drugs". He relates that at college he was a "right-wing pain in the butt who was more interested in student politics than essays", who went on "to work in the various right-wing pressure groups and think tanks that proliferated in the late eighties". He once said, "I never wore a 'Hang [[Nelson Mandela|Mandela]]' badge, but I hung out with people who did".<ref name=
Staines
Staines relates of his work with the
<blockquote>I was lobbying at the [[Council of Europe]] and at Parliament; I was over in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], in [[Johannesburg|Jo'burg]], in South America. It was 'let's get [[Iran–Contra affair|guns for the Contras]]', that sort of stuff. I was enjoying it immensely, I got to go with these guys and fire off [[AK-47
In 1989, Staines published ''In the Grip of the Sandinistas: Human Rights in Nicaragua 1979–1989'', under the auspices of the [[International Society for Human Rights]] (of which he was UK secretary-general), analysing the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinistas]] in [[Nicaragua]] from 1979 to 1989.<ref>{{Google books|id=oDS0YgEACAAJ|title=In the Grip of the Sandinistas: Human Rights in Nicaragua 1979–1989|date=1989|last=Staines|first=Paul}}</ref> He was then the editor of a series of papers called the ''Human Rights Defenders Briefing Papers''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TejjAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT294|last=Bainbridge|first=Luke|date=10 February 2014|page=294|title=The True Story of Acid House: Britain's Last Youth Culture Revolution|publisher=Omnibus Press |isbn=9780857128638 |access-date=2 August 2022|archive-date=2 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220802110256/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=TejjAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT294|url-status=live}}</ref>
In August 2011, Staines —who writes the political blog ''[[Guido Fawkes]]'' and heads the Restore Justice Campaign—launched an [[Internet petition|e-petition]] on the [[Downing Street]] website calling for the restoration of the death penalty for those convicted of the murder of children and police officers.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14402195|title= Does the public want the death penalty brought back?|work=BBC News |first= Rebecca|last= Cafe|date= 4 August 2011}}</ref> The petition was one of several in support or opposition of capital punishment to be published by the government with the launch of its e-petitions website. Petitions attracting 100,000 signatures would prompt a parliamentary debate on a particular topic, but not necessarily lead to any Parliamentary Bills being put forward.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-14400246|title= E-petitions urge MPs to debate return of death penalty|work=BBC News |date= 4 August 2011}}</ref> When the petition closed on 4 February 2012 it had received 26,351 signatures in support of restoring capital punishment.<ref>[http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/138 Restore Capital Punishment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203183338/http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/138 |date=3 February 2013 }}, epetitions.direct.gov.uk</ref>
Staines described his political journey in an interview in 2013, "I was "[[anarcho-capitalist]], [then] libertarian, then pragmatic libertarian." He went on to say his ideology was now closer to the Conservatives and [[UK Independence Party|UKIP]].<ref name=Edemariam/> He supports [[Brexit]].<ref name=Perkins/> In 2023, the [[New Statesman]] named Staines the 39th most powerful right-wing British political figure of the year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Statesman |first=New |date=2023-09-27 |title=The New Statesman's right power list |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/09/the-new-statesmans-right-power-list |access-date=2023-12-14 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Guido Fawkes==▼
{{main|Guido Fawkes (website)}}▼
▲== Guido Fawkes ==
==Criminal convictions==▼
▲== Criminal convictions ==
Staines has four alcohol-related convictions <ref name=McSmith/> In 2002, Staines was banned from driving for 12 months for drink driving.<ref name="Duff">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/pandora/pandora-dave-gets-shirty-over-order-to-undress-818060.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/pandora/pandora-dave-gets-shirty-over-order-to-undress-818060.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Blogger 'Guido Fawkes' is led off to the Tower|last=Duff|first=Oliver|date=30 April 2008|work=The Independent|access-date=16 September 2008| location=London}}</ref> When he was convicted of the same offence six years later, he was asked in court by District Judge Timothy Stone whether he had an alcohol problem and replied: "Possibly." He was banned from driving for three years, as well as being given an 18-month supervision order and wearing an electronic tag for three months.<ref name=Rayner>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/5173475/Guido-Fawkes-the-colourful-life-of-the-man-who-brought-down-Damian-McBride.html|title=Guido Fawkes: the colourful life of the man who brought down Damian McBride|last=Rayner|first=Gordon|date=17 April 2009|access-date=22 May 2018|work=The Telegraph|archive-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406041916/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/5173475/Guido-Fawkes-the-colourful-life-of-the-man-who-brought-down-Damian-McBride.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Duff" />
== Business interests ==
In 2006, Staines, along with [[Jag Singh]], co-founded MessageSpace, a digital advertising agency which operates an advertising network representing dozens of leading political websites. In 2012, it advised the successful [[Boris Johnson]] [[2012 London mayoral election|London mayoral campaign]]. ''[[Private Eye]]'' reported in June 2012 that MessageSpace was advising the Russian Embassy in London on using social media.<ref>{{cite web|title=Russian Embassy Using Social Media to Explain Foreign Policy |url=http://www.messagespace.co.uk/2012/russian-embassy-using-social-media-to-explain-foreign-policy/ |publisher=MessageSpace |access-date=12 August 2012 |date=8 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921222426/http://www.messagespace.co.uk/2012/russian-embassy-using-social-media-to-explain-foreign-policy/ |archive-date=21 September 2012 }}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Staines is married to Orla, a solicitor who works for
== References ==
{{Reflist
== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last=Collin | first=Matthew | author2=Godfrey, John | title=Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House | year=1998 | edition=2nd | publisher=Serpent's Tail | location=London | isbn=978-1-85242-604-0 | url=https://archive.org/details/alteredstatestor00coll }}—Staines features in this book written by Collin, the ex-editor of UK trend bible [[i-D]] magazine.
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[[Category:English bloggers]]
[[Category:English libertarians]]
[[Category:Irish libertarians]]
[[Category:Anonymous bloggers]]
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