Helen Disney

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Helen Disney Photo: Stockholm Network

Helen Elizabeth Disney (born 1 April 1973, formerly Helen Brown[1]) is the founder of Market House International and the Stockholm Network and had been its director since its inception in 1997[2]. Disney is a journalist who specialises in public policy topics like privatisation/deregulation and health care[3]. She has written articles for The Times, The Daily Express and the Financial Times.[4]. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists, Women in Journalism and the Women Writers Network.[5]

Views

Newsweek describes Helen Disney's role in promoting a pro-market ideology:

If Europe was once a hotbed for capitalist thought, people like Helen Disney think it can be so again. When she founded the Stockholm Network in 1997 as a loose organization of pro-market and libertarian activists, she says, many members were at first surprised that like-minded people even existed in Europe. Now the network includes more than 130 groups, from Poland's Adam Smith Foundation to Belgium's Centre for the New Europe. "The pro-market movement has definitely reached critical mass," Disney says. Every February since 2003, they head to the Capitalist Ball in Brussels--not a gala for cigar-wielding plutocrats, but a networking confab for Europe's growing number of free-market think-tankers and activists[6].

Background

Disney attended the private Oxford High School for Girls GDST and then the University of Bristol, graduating in 1995[7] with a degree in 'French and Italian'.[8]

Think tank appointments

Social Market Foundation

By the next year Disney had landed a job with the pro market think tank the Social Market Foundation. She worked there from 1996-2000, where she edited their quarterly journal The Review.[9] In 2004 the Stockholm Network website noted that while at the SMF she 'edited' The Sex-Change Society by Melanie Phillips, which was published by the Social Market Foundation.[10]

It was while she was at the SMF that the Stockholm Network was created and launched. In the eariest versions of the SN website archived at the Internet Archive from the year 2000 the SMF is listed as one of four 'main groups' of the network along with Timbro (Sweden), Paradigmes (France) and The Centre for the New Europe (a pan-European think tank based in Brussels, Belgium).[11]

Civitas

While at Civitas she 'edited' Europe's Welfare Burden , and Breaking Down the Barriers published by Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society for the Stockholm Network.[12]

Market House International

Disney was appointed the sole director of Market House International on 5 November 2003, the same day the company was incorporated at Companies House.[13] She listed her occupation as 'freelance journalist'. The Secretary of the company appointed on the same day was Rick Nye. Nye and Disney had been at the Social Market Foundation at the same time.

Publications

Newspaper Articles

  • Disney, H., 2002, Society must not ignore the crimes of women's 'loved' ones; Facing the awful truth about rape, The Express, 24-July-2002
  • Disney, H., 2002, We shouldn't be complacent over environmental good news; Ozone hole closes but battle goes on, The Express, 19-September-2002
  • Disney, H., 2002, Sickening hypocrisy from the unions over health, The Times, 28-October-2002
  • Disney, H., 2002, Government goals could actually be making services worse; aiming for targets misses the point, The Express, 29-October-2002
  • Disney, H., 2003, Organs scandal exposes arrogance of the medical profession; why do doctors treat us with contempt?, The Express, 14-May-2003
  • Disney, H., 2003, Choice is key as reforms promise a more responsive system; patient power is the only remedy for NHS, The Express, 18-July-2003
  • Disney, H. 2003, Shorter hours and longer holidays may come at a price; will less work really mean a happier life?, The Express, 8-August-2003

Stockholm Network Publications

Helen Disney has contributed to and edited publications for the Stockholm Network including the following:

  • Impatient for Change, Poles Apart?, The Stockholm Network
  • Helen Disney, Matthew Bishop, Vincent Cable, Clive Crook, Howard Davies, Bill Durodie, Stephen Godfrey-Issacs, Julia Hailes, David Henderson, Steve Hilton & Ben Hunt An apology for Capatalism?, The Stockholm Network, 2004

Affiliations

Resources

Notes

  1. Stockholm Network Homepage, Retrieved from the Internet Archive of 2 April 2002 on 19 April 2010
  2. Helen Disney, Stockholm Network Annual Report 2005-06, ISSUU.com, Accessed 17-April-2010
  3. Helen Disney, Policy Experts, PolicyExperts.org, Accessed 19-April-2010
  4. Helen Disney, Stockholm Network Annual Report 2005-06, ISSUU.com, Accessed 17-April-2010
  5. Helen Disney, Stockholm Network Annual Report 2005-06, ISSUU.com, Accessed 17-April-2010
  6. Stefan Theil, Capitalist Manifesto; A specter is haunting Europe. It's the gospel of free markets, loosed from chains, Newsweek, 14-August-2006
  7. Facebook Helen Disney
  8. Stockholm Network Market House Staff Profiles, retrieved from the Internet Archive of 22 June 2004 on 22 April 2010
  9. Helen Disney, Stockholm Network Annual Report 2005-06, ISSUU.com, Accessed 17-April-2010
  10. Stockholm Network Market House Staff Profiles, retrieved from the Internet Archive of 22 June 2004 on 22 April 2010
  11. Stockholm Network Home Page, Retrieved from the Internet Archive of 14 September 2000 on 22 April 2010
  12. Stockholm Network Market House Staff Profiles, retrieved from the Internet Archive of 22 June 2004 on 22 April 2010
  13. companies House Form 288a Appointment of director or secretary, Company Number 4953316, Market House International Limited
  14. Helen Disney 'ORGANS SCANDAL EXPOSES ARROGANCE OF THE MEDICAL PROFESSION; WHY DO DOCTORS TREAT US WITH CONTEMPT?' The Express May 14, 2003 SECTION: LEADER COLUMN; Pg. 12
  15. Helen Disney, Stockholm Network Annual Report 2006-2007, Stockholm Network, Accessed 19-April-2010
  16. Advisory Board, The Pre,/refmier Leadership Program for Central and Eastern Europe 2007, American Institute on Political and Economic Systems, Accessed 19-April-2010