Biography

I was born in England in 1978. Raised and educated in London. Emigrated to Vilnius, Lithuania in 2005. Diagnosed neurodivergent in 2025, which explains a lot of the stuff that happened before that. Married with one child. Prefer beer to wine. Can sail boats and shoot guns. Currently working in strategic communication, specialising in politics and international affairs.

Full CV on Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/markadamharold/

Things I don't regret

These are the most important things I am proud of achieving so far:

Learning to play music

I can play (quite badly) the piano, trumpet and drums, and I also sing (quite well). I have been producing and performing electronic music since the nineties, sometimes on a boat. My daughter has no choice, she will learn music, it's the most important subject.

Joining the Air Cadets

The best part of school was the Combined Cadet Force which offered the military discipline and motivation I was looking for. I joined the RAF Section and learnt flying, shooting, navigation, organisation and determination. I rose to the rank of Flight Sergeant and barrel-rolled a Chipmunk.

Teaching swimming

I qualified as a swimming teacher without knowing how much I would love it. I eventually taught hundreds of kids to swim and gained a reputation for handling the "difficult" ones, probably because I could relate to them.

Visiting Afghanistan

In 2011 I worked on a photography project for the US State Department in Afghanistan. I lived in Kabul, visited a remote village in the Panjshir Valley, helped the organisers of a rock festival, ate a lot of naan bread, dodged a checkpoint on the back of a dirtbike, found an amazing Lebanese restaurant which later got attacked, and flew back to London just as the Taliban were firing at the Intercontinental Hotel with grenade launchers. The experience was disturbing and unforgettable.

Emigrating to Lithuania

I studied and then worked in London, developing identities and websites for music and films during the dotcom boom — but when I discovered Vilnius in 2004, I decided to live there instead. You're welcome to visit and I'll be happy to show you why I never looked back.

Getting elected

My work in the music industry in London was what led me to Lithuania. In Vilnius I promoted many events with local and British musicians, giving me name recognition and support from the nightlife community. After one of my raves was fined for noise pollution, somebody joked that I should run for election to the City Council and change the rules.

The joke turned into reality when I defeated the Electoral Commission in court to secure my right to be a candidate, and then with the help of a campaign video parodying the incumbent Mayor I successfully convinced hundreds of ravers to vote for me. I became the first non-citizen to be elected in Lithuania, swore on the Constitution to serve Vilnius, and worked as a Councillor for 4 years.

During my term of office I campaigned to set up a nightlife safety hub, I legalised food trucks, defended LGBT+ equality and represented immigrants, initiated the municipality's sexual harassment prevention plan, refused to claim for expenses in protest at the corruption of the compensation system, exposed dodgy rental contracts for city property, fought to change an antisemitic streetname and received death threats for suggesting that the city basketball team should be sold to its fans. I lost the whip after I made a very overenthusiastic facebook comment about gay marriage and migration, and I then survived two attempts to throw me out of my seat entirely.

Defending nightlife communities

While serving as a City Councillor I discovered that there were other people from the world of raves working in politics in other cities. They were called Night Mayors, so that's what I became.

Supporting Ukraine

Raising a daughter

The best job in the world.