David was born in Bombay (Mumbai now) in May 1960 to an advertising father and a Sophia Loren lookalike mother. He came to England in 1964, and the family settled in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, David having a brother and a sister, but being the eldest.

David attended Holmewood House School in Langton, Kent where he won 6 national art prizes and an art scholarship to Bryanston School, Dorset. He obtained 10 ‘O’ Levels and 4 ‘A’ Levels and then went to the University of Edinburgh, Scotland to do an M.A. (Hons) in Economics and Politics. David won the Economics class prize in his first year.

In his third year, David was awarded an Exchange Scholarship to Wharton Business School/The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA (1981-82), and lived in ‘International Project‘ with students from all over the world, including his flatmate Armando from the Dominican Republic. Here David saw the ‘student loan’ system up front, as compared to the ‘student grant’ system then in place, and which he believes we should return to. Wharton, regarded as the top business school in the USA (or second to Harvard possibly !) was excellent for practical business and marketing training.

David learnt to fly small planes in the USA, sometimes flying ‘shadow traffic patrol’  with his instructor Joe Custodio. He obtained his Private Pilot’s Licence, despite suffering partial engine failure on take off in Virginia, and having to make an emergency landing. He flew past the Statue of Liberty, and did training spins at night between New York and Philadelphia. Flying then was a little hazardous after President Reagan had fired the air controllers! There were some interesting views of a Lear Jet and a plane trying to land on top of us at an unmanned airfield. Exhilerating though, and a privilege !

David was in the USA during the Falklands War. His minor contribution to the cause came when a flatmate above his room, on the 22^nd floor, unfurled a huge Argentine flag. On the liberation of South Georgia, dcb let fly with a record of British patriotic songs at full blast. A little while later the flag disappeared, never to return ! David managed to obtain a student ticket on the QE2, and was on the first sailing back from New York to Southampton after the Falklands War.

At University, David enjoyed drama, appearing as Biggles in ‘Biggles the Musical’ and as a Welshman in ‘Barthomolew Fair‘. He wrote and directed a comedy revue for freshers at the Bedlam Theatre, entitled ‘The Brick Programme’. He later co-wrote and presented a comedy revue at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and never forgets the buzz of such talented performers there. Whilst at Edinburgh, David was recruited as an extra in the Oscar-winning film ‘Chariots of Fire’, receiving short back and sides and appearing in the crowd in the scene where Eric Liddell is tripped up but still wins the race !

David started work in London, initially in company finance, but much preferring the creativity of advertising agencies. He was the lead account management trainee for the top agency Allen, Brady & Marsh, working on famous brands such as R. Whites Lemonade (‘Secret Lemonade Drinker‘), Cussons Imperial Leather, Midland Bank plc   (The Griffin and free banking). Later, he wrote the draft 5-year Corporate Strategy for the launch of Orangina into the UK, and worked on Sony and Jacksons of Piccadilly teas. In advertising he learnt the importance of brands, focus, positioning and strategy. He went to most major UK film studios such as Elstree when TV commercials were being filmed, and met the Bond Producer Cubby Brocolli in the restaurant at Pinewood studios.

David later established his own copywriting business, enjoying creative writing. He worked on corporate communications for companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Balfour Beatty and BP Options, and had to learn to communicate effectively to many different audiences in many different ways. He was Communications Manager for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) 1993-94, and worked closely with its engineers to write a series of video TV scripts for showing the route of the rail line, and how its effects would be mitigated against. Scarily, sometimes David knew the route better than the engineers!

With his real interest always being politics, David joined the Bow Group, headed the Transport Committee, and rose to Political Secretary and then Chairman (1993-94). This was a time when the Bow Group had 100 MP members and 7 members of Cabinet, including Eurosceptic Tories such as Michael Howard, Peter Lilley and Bill Cash. He chaired an address by the then Prime Minister, John Major. David had a paper he wrote in 1997 advocating the return of powers to the UK in a ‘European Grand Committee’ arrangement backed and then stopped - by someone who became a Europhile Tory MP!

David’s  proudest achievement was to initiate a Northern Ireland Peace Conference in March 2004 at Exeter College Oxford, which was attended by major political figures from UK and Northern Ireland parties, including The UK Secretary of State, a former RUC Chief Constable, Irish Government representatives and Senators. Most moving were speeches by Colin Parry who had lost his son exactly a year before in the Warrington bomb, and Senator Gordon Wilson who lost his daughter in a Rememberance Day attack.

David wrote the Bow Group’s best selling paper, the huge tone ‘Levelling the Tracks: Using Rail Privatisation To Right An Historic Imbalance’ and advised transport ministers. He has always been a passionate advocate of rail travel, and became Chairman of the ‘Spa Valley Railway’ ( a brand he created ), which succeeded in reopening a closed railway line out of Tunbridge Wells as a heritage railway attraction.

His political understanding and experience was rewarded in 1996 when Sir Patrick Mayhew, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State, gave David the honour of making him his Special Adviser working on the ‘Peace Process’ in Whitehall and in Stormont. The night he celebrated his new role at his girlfriend’s apartment, David heard the Canary Wharf bomb go off after the first IRA ceasefire collapsed. David believed enough in the cause of saving lives, and achieving a respectable peace in Northern Ireland, that he was prepared to undertake a job regardless of the evident dangers to himself.

Later, David contributed a proposal to the Weapons Decommissioning Body called the ‘Haystack Option’. This aimed to help solve the thorny issue of decommissioning terrorist weapons in a way that did not derail the peace process. This suggested that weapons were not handed in, but were destroyed in front of suitable neutral observers, such as religious leaders. This was very well received at the time, and later resurfaced as the solution to the decommissioning question.

Campbell Bannerman stood behind Taioseach John Bruton and Prime Minister John Major at the start of the historic Peace Talks in 2006 that eventually brought in the Good Friday Agreement. David also attended a Peace and Reconciliation Conference at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and worked closely with Mo Mowlam and Lord Ashdown representatives in an all-party cause.

David fought his first Parliamentary election in Glasgow Rutherglen, a constituency in which his grandmother lived, in May 2007. He was thanked by local journalists for ‘shaking things up’ and for his dedication to a decent campaign on issues of real weight to the people there in the face of a corrupting ‘one party state’.

Back in London, David’s transport expertise was put to good use as Communications Director of the passenger railways (the Association of Train Operating Companies) in another tough job (he loves challenges!) - representing the rail passenger companies in an atmosphere of hate from both the media and the new Labour Government. He built up the Press Office from scratch, wrote consultation papers and organised major events with a small but dedicated team. His Rapid Response Unit brought tangible media results.

David returned to politics on selection as PPC for Warwick & Leamington in December 1999, in a very competitive race of 166 candidates including 6 former MPs. He moved into a cottage in Warwickshire. David worked for United News & Media plc on group communications for 40 websites before the election. In June 2001, David achieved over 20,000 votes, but a Lib-Lab Pact conspired to raise the sitting Labour MP’s majority.

Having stepped down from his job to contest the election, David took out some time to develop a writing career as a feature film screenwriter, a long desired ambition (David successfully completed two screenwriting courses at Birkbeck College London whilst in full time work). He has now written 5 screenplays, and has had interest from Hollywood twice - with the rights to his first script ‘Breach-of-Contract’ being optioned. He attends various international film festivals and has serious interest in his scripts.

David now works as a PR Consultant, undertaking interim assignments for large organisations such as a leading international PR company, a major airports group, transport organisations, a major leisure concern and a healthcare organisation.

David is 48, single at present, whilst looking for the right lady to settle down with, when he’s not working all the time !

Since 2005, his main focus has been on UKIP and serving the party to the best of his ability. He is entirely dedicated to the party’s cause.

For UKIP, as Deputy Leader and Head of Policy, David has helped Nigel Farage broaden UKIP as a party through a major policy programme. David has initiated and managed 18 separate policy groups on all major areas of policy, to dispel the myth once and for all that UKIP is merely a single issue group. As Party Chairman, David visited all parts of the UK, including our Northern Ireland branches. He took the difficult decision to close the Ashford Call Centre and to move Head Office from Birmingham to Newton Abbot, which has been a great success. David was elected formally to the NEC in 2007.