Darren is a writer, third sector campaigner and communications consultant. Following a sixteen-year stint as an elected member at the heart of London government, which included at various times holding positions as Chair of The London Assembly and Chair of its Environment Committee and Housing Committee, Darren stepped away from full-time politics in 2016. He now devotes his time to writing, campaign work and a range of freelance communications projects delivered through the partnership he set up with a colleague, Crowflies Communications.
It is in the latter category that Darren has worked to assist Counterculture in its comms work, working on a series of key press announcements for the partnership and managing the associated social media support. Other clients have included charities, community arts projects and the public sector.
Darren worked on the successful campaign to avert Theresa May’s plans to bring back fox hunting and organised a high-profile national bus tour during the 2017 General Election on behalf of the League Against Cruel Sports. He currently co-ordinates campaigning for the learning disability charity, Stay Up Late, which works to transform social care and remove the barriers that too often prevent those with a learning disability going to gigs and enjoying an active social life.
Darren has considerable experience in providing mentoring, training and support and has led a large number of workshops and training days as well one-to-one support in speaker and debate training, media training, grassroots campaigning and chairing skills.
Passionate about music, Darren also provides professional music PR support and has established a solid track record of securing album reviews, features, interviews, airplay and tour publicity for a range of artists.
Darren also runs a popular music website and is a regular contributor to a number of other publications in the rock and folk worlds, providing regular gig reviews, album reviews and interviews. His first book ‘The Sweet in the 1970s’ was published by Sonicbond in July 2021.