David Vaughan Icke (born 29 April 1952) is an English writer, public speaker and a former professional footballer and sports broadcaster. He promotes conspiracy theories about global politics and has written extensively about them with his views on what he calls “who and what is really controlling the world”.

Describing himself as the most controversial speaker and author in the world, he has written 16 books explaining his position, and has attracted a substantial following across the political spectrum. His 533-page The Biggest Secret (1999) has been called the conspiracy theorist’s Rosetta Stone