Klaus Armstrong-Braun
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Klaus Armstrong-Braun (born 13 December 1940) is an environmental campaigner and UK politician.
He currently lives in Broughton (near Chester) in Flintshire, Wales, where he was a councillor for the Green Party on the Broughton and Bretton Community Council between 1991 and 1995 and on Flintshire County Council between 1995 and 2004 (when he losts his seat to Labour). He is the only county councillor ever elected for the Wales Green Party and remains on Saltney Town Council.
In March 2005, he changed his political allegiance to Forward Wales and stood in the May general election in Alyn and Deeside as a parliamentary candidate.
Klaus spends much of his time campaigning to save the habitats and lives of endangered species, particularly those that the government and civil society have shown little interest in protecting. Most notably the EU-protected great crested newt. In common with London mayor, Ken Livingstone, his passion for newts has resulted in ad hominem remarks from rival politicians.
He has an interest in environmental and planning law, and has instigated or taken many legal cases against various governments to the European Court. As a runner in his spare time, he has taken part in 100 mile ultramarathon and 24-hour races.
[edit] Early History
Klaus was born in Kraków, Poland in 1940. He was orphaned and moved to Germany before finally moving to Ireland as a refugee in 1944 where he was brought up.
He was educated in Britain where he qualified as an engineer on the railways. He studied at the Chester College of Further Education, Liverpool Polytechnic (now Liverpool John Moores University), Manchester Metropolitan University and University College Chester (now the University of Chester).
He spent over 25 years in the railway industry as a maintenance supervisor for locomotives and wagons; a stores controller, and, later, a divisional cripple-wagon controller with the now defunct British Rail. He also served for over 25 years in the Reservists Section of the Royal Engineers and Royal Corps of Transport, becoming a Staff Sergeant.
