Alex Hilton

Alex Hilton (born 4 January 1976) is an English blogger (author of website [http://www.recessmonkey.com/ Recess Monkey] ), a Labour Party activist, and was once wrongly accused of being a distant cousin of heiress Paris Hilton through his American grandfather [ [http://www.recessmonkey.com/2008/03/16/gotta-love-the-media/ Fulham Chronicle | A Real Political Bite] ] .

Hilton was Labour councillor for Newbury in the London Borough of Redbridge until 2006, when he did not stand for re-election.

In 2005 he stood as the Labour parliamentary candidate in Canterbury. The incumbent Conservative MP Julian Brazier increased his majority by from 2,000 in 2001 to 7,500 votes. At next United Kingdom general election, Alex Hilton will be the Labour candidate for Chelsea and Fulham in London.

Hilton has gained some notability on the internet for his blogging activity, and has been presented as a "grassroots political guru" [ [http://www.newstatesman.com/200701120002 New Statesman - Bullying blogs and flying Blair ] ] [ [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/media/story/0,,1985288,00.html Dispatches | Special Reports | Guardian Unlimited Politics ] ]

Media work

His Recess Monkey website [ [http://www.recessmonkey.com/ RecessMonkey ] ] is a light-hearted politics website with a left-leaning slant. Among other 'tasteful' scoops Hilton reported on the "death" of Margaret Thatcher and a pool of blood in Parliament caused by an accident on a lift. He was threatened with litigation by Conservative Future Chairman Mark Clarke after making attacks upon Clarke on the blog. [ [http://www.recessmonkey.com/2007/01/03/right-to-reply/ RecessMonkey » Blog Archive » Right to reply ] ] . He has also received threats of litigation from MPs Ed Vaizey, Nadine Dorries and Meg Hillier.

In November 2007 Hilton published content from the Facebook page from a daughter of Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, who quoted a black friend's words "'She's not black... she's a nigga'", accusing her of racism. Dorries reacted angrily [ [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23421994-details/Labour+activist+used+my+girl's+Facebook+site+to+attack+me,+says+Tory+MP/article.do Labour activist used my girl's Facebook site to attack me, says Tory MP| News | This is London ] ] saying "As an MP I don't mind if people want to take a pop at me - it comes with the territory. However, not my kids. Take me on all you want, but mess with my kids". Hilton reflected on the issue on The Guardian's Comment is Free website, in an article titled "Black man in a white man's body". [ [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/alex_hilton/2007/11/black_man_in_a_white_mans_body.html Comment is free: Black man in a white man's body ] ]

On 20 June 2006, he launched [ [http://www.labourhome.org/story/2006/6/20/0535/82213 Labourhome » Welcome to Labourhome ] ] Labourhome with American-trained political strategist Jag Singh, in response to the great popularity of ConservativeHome. The site features blogging and other content aimed at Labour supporters.

Hilton is currently defending a defamation suit from Johanne Kaschke regarding an article on Labourhome.

On 22 June 2006, Hilton registered the www.Messagespace.co.uk domain. [ [http://webwhois.nic.uk/cgi-bin/whois.cgi?query=messagespace.co.uk WHOIS Query ] ] Messagespace, a joint venture with Jag Singh and right-wing blogger Paul Staines went live on August 7 2006, [ [http://www.messagespace.co.uk/blog/2006/08/07/hello-world/ The MessageSpace Blog » Welcome to MessageSpace ] ] and sells advertising space on most of Britain's major political blogs including Politicalbetting.com, Iain Dale, ConservativeHome, Lib Dem Blogs, as well as Staines' and Hilton's own sites. Hilton left the firm in 2007, leaving Singh as the CIO responsible for strategy and technology, and Staines responsible for the financial side of the start-up. [ [http://www.messagespace.co.uk/blog/about/ The MessageSpace Blog » About Us ] ]

In late 2006 he also joined forces with PR adviser Mark Hanson who has positioned Hilton as a rival to the likes of Tim Montgomerie in the mainstream media.

In 2007, he was recruited by Hillary Benn's Deputy Leadership campaign as the Web Strategy Manager.

He has appeared on the Westminster Hour, Newsnight Review, Question Time Extra, BBC News, Any Questions, More 4 News, Sky News, and BBC1's Election night coverage.

References