Matt O’Connor (born February 1967) is a marketing consultant, political activist, and author. He is the founder and leader of the

Fathers 4 Justice Fathers 4 Justice (or F4J) is a fathers’ rights organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, the group aims to gain public and parliamentary support for changes in UK legislation on fathers' rights, mainly using stunts and protest ...

organisation.

Early life and business career

He was born in Manchester in February 1967, and grew up in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. His father was a headmaster of a Catholic school from Kerry, Ireland; his mother was an English teacher.

Fathers 4 Justice

was founded in 2001 in the UK by O'Connor.Deborah Ros
"Matt O'Connor: The man behind Fathers4Justice"
''The Independent'', 4 July 2006 In 2007 he published his first book ''Fathers4Justice: The Inside Story'' through the Orion Publishing Group and sold the film rights to his life story to Buena Vista pictures, part of the Walt Disney group.

Ice cream

In 2009 O'Connor launched an ice cream brand 'The Icecreamists' at Selfridges' London store, then opened a shopfront in Covent Garden. He sold "extreme flavours" such as absinthe, crushed popcorn, and horseradish. In 2011 his

Baby Gaga The Licktators was an ice cream manufacturing company in London, England that has been described by the department store Selfridges as "more Sid and Nancy than Ben & Jerry". Foundation Licktators was founded by activist Matt O’Connor, found ...

breast milk ice cream was removed from sale by Westminster Council for testing, but later returned. Newspapers reported that singer

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

threatened legal action over the possible use of her name. His second book ''The Icecreamists'' was published 2012 by Octopus Publishing. He was also the Creative Director for the Gelato brand Antonio Federici Gelato Italiano campaign launched in 2009. Several of the advertisements were later banned by the Advertising Standards Authority.

Mayoral candidacy

In 2008 he was a candidate in the London mayoral election for the

English Democrats The English Democrats is a right-wing to far-right, English nationalist political party active in England. A minor party, it currently has no elected representatives at any level of UK government. The English Democrats were established in 20 ...

, but he pulled out a week before polling date, citing a lack of both support from the Democrats, and publicity from the press.

Publications

*''Fathers4Justice: The Inside Story'' (

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

, 2007) *''The Icecreamists: Boutique ice creams and other guilty pleasures to make and enjoy at home'' (

Mitchell Beazley Mitchell Beazley Publishers Limited is a British book publisher which is particularly specialised in atlases, reference books, natural history books, cook books, garden books and wine books. History The London-based company Mitchell Beazley was ...

, 2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Matt Living people English Democrats politicians Fathers' rights activists English people of Irish descent Date of birth missing (living people) 1967 births People from Manchester