Alexander "Alex" Story (born 6 December 1974)[1] is a British former rower, who rowed in the British men's eight at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.[2] Story has unsuccessfully stood as a candidate for the Conservative Party on several occasions.

Rowing

Story was on the Great Britain rowing team for the 1996 Summer Olympics, competing in the men's eight.[3]

He rowed for Great Britain as a junior, an under-23 and a senior athlete. His career spanned from 1992 to 1998.

In 1995, at the World Rowing Championships in Tampere, Finland, he qualified for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. He retained his place for the 1997 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette where the British eight finished fourth.[4]

He rowed for Cambridge against Oxford in the Boat Races of 1997[5] and 1998.[6] In the former he was the heaviest man competing, and was credited[7] with having been the difference between the two crews. He was described as a hero by coach Harry Mahon.[8] His 1998 crew set the course record.[9]

A back injury ended his rowing career.

Political and media career

He has subsequently been active in the Conservative Party. In 2005, he contested Denton and Reddish[10] at the general election; in 2010, he fought Wakefield,[11] and in 2015, at short notice, he stood for Leeds North West. In Denton and Reddish, a safe seat for the Labour Party, Story came a distant second.[12] At the next election, his candidacy in the marginal Wakefield constituency saw Story finish less than 2,000 votes behind the incumbent Labour MP.[13][14] In 2015, Story came third behind the Liberal Democrats and Labour, in what was a marginal contest between those two parties.[15]

He was placed second on the Conservative party list for the Yorkshire and the Humber region for the 2014 European election;[16] however, only one Conservative was elected.[17] After the elevation of MEP Timothy Kirkhope to the House of Lords in October 2016, Story was asked by the region's returning officer to take the vacant seat.[18] To be returned, Story needed the Conservative Party to re-nominate him, which they refused to do; Story unsuccessfully asked the High Court to intervene.[19] The Conservative Party subsequently appointed John Procter, who had been third on the party list, as the replacement, rather than Story.[20][19]

In the 2016 European Union membership referendum he campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union.[21][22] He was one of the founders of Story Productions,[23] a media production company that still operates today. Story has written for publications such as The Daily Telegraph,[24] and City A.M..[25]

On 5 November 2017, the Conservative MP for Tamworth, Chris Pincher, resigned as Comptroller of the Household (Assistant Whip) and voluntarily referred himself to the Conservative Party's complaints procedure and the police after Story said that he was previously the subject of unwanted sexual advances from Pincher. Story had allegedly been invited to Pincher's flat, where the latter massaged Story's neck and talked about his "future in the Conservative Party", before changing into a bathrobe. Recounting the episode, Story said that Pincher's advances made him seem like a "pound-shop Harvey Weinstein".[lower-alpha 1][26] Pincher said that "I do not recognise either the events or the interpretation placed on them" and that "if Mr Story has ever felt offended by anything I said then I can only apologise to him".[26] On 23 December 2017, the Conservative Party's investigating panel determined that Pincher had not breached the code of conduct.[27]

Personal life

Story is married and has four children.

References

  1. ↑ In 2017, the American film producer Harvey Weinstein had been accused of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse, leading to the #MeToo movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture; "pound shop" is a reference to British high street discount stores such as Poundland.
  1. ↑ "Alex Story". World Rowing. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  2. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alex Story Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Events - worldrowing.com". Worldrowing.com. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Events - worldrowing.com". Worldrowing.com. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "Regatta Online - Boat Race". Rowingservice.com. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  6. ↑ "Regatta Online - The Boat Race". Regatta.rowing.org.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  7. ↑ Steve Trapmore (13 August 2015). "1997 University Boat Race - Cambridge Victory". Youtube.com. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  8. ↑ "Boat race: Washed up on desolation row". Independent.co.uk. 29 March 1998. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Boat Race Results - The Boat Race". Theboatraces.org. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  10. ↑ "Electoral Commission - Denton & Reddish". Electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  11. ↑ "Electoral Commission - Wakefield". Electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  12. ↑ "Election 2005 | Results | Denton & Reddish". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  13. ↑ "Election 2010 | Constituency | Wakefield". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  14. ↑ "Election 2005 | Results | Wakefield". BBC News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Leeds North West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  16. ↑ "Vote 2014: European election candidates for Yorkshire and the Humber". Bbc.co.uk. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  17. ↑ "Results of the 2014 European Parliament elections in the UK". Europarl.org.uk. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  18. ↑ "Vacancy for a Member of European Parliament (MEP) – Yorkshire and The Humber Region" (PDF).
  19. 1 2 Len Tingle (28 November 2016). "Yorkshire electorate baffled at how its MEP is replaced". BBC.
  20. ↑ The Newsroom (28 December 2016). "'I want to listen to what this region wants from Brexit'". Yorkshire Post.
  21. ↑ Story, Alex (6 May 2016). "Why pro-Europeans should back Brexit – to save Europe from the EU". Cityam.com. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  22. ↑ "Leave.EU announce the appointment of Alex Story to head up and represent the Leave.EU Business Group. - Leave.eu". Archived from the original on 6 October 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  23. ↑ "Story Productions". Storyproductions.com.br. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  24. ↑ Story, Alex (29 July 2006). "'There were four beautiful mushroom clouds a week. Nobody told us they were dangerous'". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  25. ↑ "Alex Story". Cityam.com. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  26. 1 2 "Tory Whip Chris Pincher refers himself to the police after claim of unwanted pass at former Olympic rower". Telegraph. 5 November 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  27. ↑ Buchan, Lizzy (23 December 2017). "Tory MPs Stephen Crabb and Chris Pincher cleared by party over sexual harassment claims". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
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