Steve Bray

Steven Bray (born 26 June 1969)[1][2] is a British activist from Port Talbot in South Wales, who in 2018 and 2019 made daily protests against Brexit in College Green, Westminster. He is variously known as Stop Brexit Man,[3] Mr Stop Brexit[4] or the Stop Brexit guy.[5] He was often heard during TV broadcasts from College Green at Westminster shouting anti-Brexit statements or seen quietly walking into the background of live TV interviews, wearing a colourful blue outfit and carrying placards with a simple 'Stop Brexit' or anti-government message.[6][7]

Steve Bray
Steve Bray outside Parliament
Born (1969-06-26) 26 June 1969
Port Talbot, Glamorgan, Wales
NationalityBritish
OccupationActivist
Known forProtesting against Brexit
Political partyLiberal Democrats

In March 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, formally initiating Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, following the result of the 2016 advisory referendum on the UK's EU membership. Bray was incensed, leaving Port Talbot and travelling to London to protest.[8]

British TV channel ITV call him a notable figure; for the length of his protest, and for the technique he uses to disrupt multi-camera interviews.[6] Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has called him an international celebrity.[9][10] Bray won PMP Magazine's Person of the Year award for 2018.[11]

Bray was the unsuccessful Liberal Democrat candidate for the Cynon Valley constituency in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.[12][13][14][15]

Before the Brexit referendum

Steve Bray was born 26 June 1969.[1] Before becoming involved in political activism, Bray served in the British Army[16] and was a self-employed numismatist, working in Port Talbot, South Wales.[17]

Activity

Bray wears a European Blue jacket, with a blue top-hat with a yellow hat-band. He has a cape made up from a Union Jack sewn into an EU flag. He carries two double sided, burgundy coloured, A2 sized, placards with the messages "Stop the BREXIT mess," "We want a people's vote," and "Things have changed, it is time to reassess".[6]

Camera teams from all news sources interview politicians on College Green, outside the Houses of Parliament. When Bray spots a team arriving, he walks over, and as the live interview begins, he quietly walks into the background of the shot, displaying his posters. As the camera moves, so does he, remaining in the frame. He then walks off before the team can ask the police to remove him. With a two camera interview, he knows which camera is live and moves from one to the other as needed. In an incident on 14 November 2018 with Georgina Wright and Annita McVeigh, the camera hopping lasted over two minutes.[18]

Steve Bray standing in front of the Sky TV Media Tent during an interview between Kay Burley and Labour MP Chris Bryant, on the day that Jeremy Corbyn called a vote of no confidence.

When the camera team chooses to film against the door of the Palace, Bray uses another tactic. He stands close by and shouts 'Stop Brexit' over a loudhailer, ruining the sound track.[6] On 19 October 2019 he was clearly heard to yell during a live TV interview ‘bollocks to Boris’ after the Brexit deal the Prime Minister proposed was not agreed by parliament.

The BBC tried to circumvent Bray's disruption by building a five-metre-high (16 ft) platform on which to conduct interviews. Bray was not deterred and raised the EU flag on a 5-metre-high pole, which could be seen waving behind the presenter.[19][20]

Every evening at around 6pm, he performs another ritual, approaching the Palace and shouting "Stop Brexit, it's not a done deal" before leaving.[21] He returns at 11 the following morning and states he will continue to do so until another referendum is called.[9]

In January 2019, Bray moved into an apartment opposite the Westminster home of Conservative Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg. In order to rent the property in Westminster’s Cowley Street for two months, he raised more than £12,000 from the public.[4] In response to the news of his new neighbour, Rees-Mogg said: "Should he wish to borrow a cup of sugar, he would be very welcome."[4]

2019 general election
Regular SODEM protestors; Steve Bray in his post election grey attire, December 2019
January 2020, Supporting EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen on her London visit.

Steve Bray was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Cynon Valley constituency in the 2019 United Kingdom general election. The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, noted that Bray was a passionate campaigner and should not be seen as a joke candidate.[22] He came 6th of 7 candidates with 949 votes, 3.1% of the total, and lost his deposit.[23]

Bray described the Conservative victory in the 2019 General Election as "devastating." Shortly after the result, he acknowledged that the chances of the UK remaining in the EU were "tiny" and offered that "we are all going to end up in hell after Brexit happens." Bray decided to end his daily protests after 847 days.[24][25]

SODEM

SODEM is a political movement founded by Steve Bray in September 2017. It is an acronym for Stand of Defiance European Movement, and its colours are yellow on blue. A previous action was to secretly place the European flag on an empty flagpole outside the Neath Port Talbot council offices on 19 August 2018.[26]

References
  1. "How Brexit made Britain a country of Remainers and Leavers". 20 June 2019 – via The Economist.
  2. "The Londoner: Climate champion's bumpy take-off". Evening Standard. 26 June 2019.
  3. "'Stop Brexit Man' to stand as Lib Dem candidate in general election". The Independent. 12 November 2019.
  4. Grew, Tony (27 January 2019). "Mr Stop Brexit moves to Jacob Rees-Mogg's street protest". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 27 May 2019.(subscription required)
  5. Clements, Laura (11 April 2019). "Stop Brexit guy: The man who shouts 'Stop Brexit' on TV". walesonline.
  6. "Anti-Brexit protester from Port Talbot repeatedly crashing TV interviews says he won't stop 'unless Brexit is stopped'". ITV News. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  7. Wheeler, Brian (20 November 2017). "Who are the Stop Brexit campaigners?". BBC News. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  8. Gumuchian, Marie-Louise (10 December 2018). ""Stop Brexit!" - one man's daily protest against UK-EU divorce". Reuters.
  9. Notelovitz, Shay; Shearlaw, Maeve; Guardian, Source (28 November 2018). "A day with Mr Stop Brexit: crashing TV interviews and fighting Ukip – video". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  10. Hogan, Michael (27 October 2019). "Anti-Brexit activist Steve Bray: 'This is my first protest – it's lasted two years'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  11. "Our "Person of the year" 2018". PMP Magazine - PoliticsMeansPolitics.com. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  12. "Stop Brexit campaigner Steve Bray welcomed as Lib Dem candidate". Evening Standard. 12 November 2019.
  13. "'Stop Brexit' megaphone man to stand for Lib Dems". 12 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  14. "Election deposit", Wikipedia, 20 November 2019, retrieved 13 December 2019
  15. "Cynon Valley parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  16. "Veterans for Europe Affiliates with the European Movement UK". European Movement.
  17. Freyne, Patrick. "Battling Brexit has become a full-time job for activist". The Irish Times.
  18. Reid, Alistair; Goofman, Rick. "This 'stop Brexit' protester stole the show during a serious TV interview". Independent.ie. Press Association. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  19. Morris, James (27 November 2018). "Stop Brexit man crashes BBC broadcast with EU flag despite 5m platform". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  20. Read, Jonathon. "WATCH: BBC fails with new platform to block out anti-Brexit campaigners". The New European. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  21. Forrest, Adam. "This Man Shouts 'Stop Brexit' at Parliament Every Single Day". Vice.
  22. Owen, Cathy (13 November 2019). "The man who shouts 'Stop Brexit' at Parliament stands to be a Welsh MP". walesonline.
  23. "Cynon Valley parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC. 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  24. "Man who shouted STOOOP BREEEXXXIIIIT for 847 days finally admits defeat". Metro. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  25. Forrest, Adam; Cowburn, Ashley (19 December 2019). "Brexit news: Boris Johnson unveils 'book of Trump' agenda to prevent courts challenging government and make voter ID mandatory". The Independent. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  26. Clements, Laura (22 August 2018). "The one-man campaign against Brexit that's being run from Port Talbot". walesonline. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
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