Amy Lamé (née Caddle; born 3 January 1971) is an American-British performer, writer, and TV and radio presenter, known for her one-woman shows, her performance group Duckie, and

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term i ...

-themed media works. She was appointed by the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's soft ...

, as the city's first " Night Czar" in November 2016, with the responsibility of promoting London's varied nightlife both in the UK and internationally, including safeguarding venues across the city.London's new Night Czar Amy Lamé facing growing questions over her business credentials , London Evening Standard
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Biography

Amy Lamé was born and raised in Keyport, New Jersey, and moved to London in 1992. She is married to Jennie, her partner since 1995.

Career

Radio

Lamé presented alongside

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fa ...

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London News'' and weekly '' Sunday Politics'' on television ...

's afternoon show which aired 3–5pm from Monday to Friday. On 1 November 2012, it was reported by Danny Baker that the show had been axed and that Lamé earned £50 per episode. She was the co-founder and co-presenter of HomoLab, a weekly queer cultural and current affairs podcast, which ran from December 2010 to June 2014. Having sat in for a number of DJs on

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available on ...

(including Tom Ravenscroft,

Lauren Laverne Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...

, Nemone, and

Steve Lamacq Stephen Paul Lamacq (born 16 October 1964), sometimes known by his nickname Lammo (given to him by John Peel), is an English disc jockey, currently working with the BBC radio station BBC Radio 6 Music. Early life He attended The Ramsey Acade ...

), Lamé began hosting her own weekly Sunday show on the station from January 2018, replacing ''Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service''.

TV

Lamé was a presenter on the

BBC 2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

show GaytimeTV for 3 series and then went on to create and host her own panel game-show, ''The Staying in Show'' for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. Lamé has appeared on ITV reality show '' Celebrity Fit Club''. She was a panellist on ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (previously known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV1 weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about ...

'' in 2004 and ''

CelebAir ''CelebAir'' is a reality TV series in which 11 celebrities perform the duties of cabin crew and check-in attendants. The series was presented by Angellica Bell and aired on ITV2 from 2 September 2008 until 23 October 2008, when Lisa Maffia w ...

'', and on '' Market Kitchen''. She was the mentor for LGBTQ teenagers on

's ''My Big Gay Prom''. In 2009, she appeared in a '' Doctor Who'' related documentary titled ''Look 100 Years Younger'', included on the DVD release for

The Twin Dilemma ''The Twin Dilemma'' is the seventh and final serial of the 21st season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 22 March to 30 March 1984. In the serial, the ...

, in which she discussed with actor

Colin Baker Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943) is an English actor who played Paul Merroney in the BBC drama series '' The Brothers'' from 1974 to 1976 and the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series '' Doct ...

the various costumes worn by the character of the Doctor over the decades. In 2012 she appeared on Channel 4's live satirical comedy/news programme '' 10 O'Clock Live'' to discuss the current state of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

Writing

Lamé has contributed short stories to the anthology Typical Girls. She also writes regular features on culture, travel and food for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

''.

Duckie and other works

In 1995, Lamé, with Simon Strange, co-founded the Olivier-award-winning performance-club-night and collective Duckie, which she hosts every Saturday night at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern. In 1996 she curated, produced and hosted Keep The Faith at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in E ...

which explored the links between the gallery's permanent collection and faith. She commissioned new work to be shown in the gallery for one night only including an interactive performance installation tea party with 30 Anglican priests; Joshua Sofaer's tale of meeting his

Jews for Jesus Jews for Jesus is an international Messianic Jewish non-profit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. The group is known for its proselytism to Jews and promotes the belief that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. It was ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

namesake, Joshua Sofaer, in Namesake: The Story of a Name;

Jonathan Allen Jonathan Allen (born January 16, 1995) is an American football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he won several defensive player of the year awar ...

Tommy Angel Jonathan Allen (born 1966) is a visual artist, writer, and magician based in London. His performance persona "Tommy Angel", is a fictitious evangelist and magician satirising the genre of Gospel Magic, who Allen portrays in a variety of medi ...

's performance exploring evangelism and belief using magic and illusion; and a Buddhist tour of the gallery. The event had the highest ever recorded number of participants – over 5,000 – for a ''Late at Tate''. In 1996, her second one-woman show, ''Cum Manifesto'', a show about safer sex for gay men, debuted on

Hampstead Heath Hampstead Heath (locally known simply as the Heath) is an ancient heath in London, spanning . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band ...

and toured to gay male cruising grounds around the UK and

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

. Working with the Duckie collective in 1997, Lamé produced and hosted The World's First Lesbian Beauty Contest. In 2006, Lamé created her third one-woman show ''Amy Lamé's Mama Cass Family Singers''. The show debuted at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

and was later performed at the

Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...

, London, toured the UK and performed at The Powerhouse,

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, Australia She made her stage debut in her first one-woman show ''Gay Man Trapped in a Lesbian's Body'' as part of ICA London's 'Spring Exhibitions' programme. She founded the social enterprise Pom Pom International and has held pom-pom making parties at Duckie, London's Lesbian and Gay Festival 2008 and in Northern Ireland where she held the 'Pom-poms for Peace Project'.

Politics

Lamé is an active member of, and fundraiser for, the Labour Party. She is mentioned in Sarah Brown's memoir ''Behind the Black Door'' (2011), where she details Lamé's hen night celebrations in

Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk ...

. From May 2010 to May 2011, she held the ceremonial role of Mayoress of

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

alongside the Mayor, Councillor Jonathan Simpson. In 2014, Lamé sought nomination to be the Labour candidate for the South London seat of Dulwich and West Norwood. She was unsuccessful, losing to

Helen Hayes Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...

. On 4 November 2016, Lamé was announced by

London Mayor The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

to be the first London night czar. She earns a salary of £84,832 per year for the role. Shortly after her appointment she was praised by Khan for her role in negotiating the reopening of the

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

nightclub. In October 2018, Lamé successfully managed to lobby

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

to change the name of its Gentleman's Smoked Chicken Caesar Roll, after arguing that it was sexist.

Controversies

Shortly after her appointment in November 2016, Lamé was ordered to delete a number of offensive tweets about the Conservative Party, which included celebration of the death of

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

and fantasies of assaulting

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

and Sayeeda Warsi. In July 2018, Lamé was criticised by prominent music industry figures such as

Four Tet Kieran Hebden (born September 1977), known as Four Tet, is an English electronic musician. He came to prominence as a member of the post-rock band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist with charting UK albums such as '' Rounds'' ( ...

and Andy Peyton after Hackney Council voted to make new businesses close at 11pm under new licensing laws. In March 2019, after live music venue The Social was saved from closing after a fundraising campaign, figures such as

Andrew Boff Andrew Boff (born 14 April 1958) is a British politician who has been Deputy Chair of the London Assembly since May 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served a London-wide Assembly Member (AM) since the 2008 election. Boff served ...

called Amy Lamé's role as night czar into question, arguing that the position is an ineffective job and should be scrapped. In February 2020, it emerged that Lamé was paid an extra £1,000 out of

Sadiq Khan's culture budget to host a drag act at

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London and the ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Charing Cross, the town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and Sou ...

Assembly Hall, which charged a £15 entry fee.

References

External links

*
''Amy Lamé''
(BBC Radio 6 Music)
HomoLab websitePom Pom International website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lame, Amy 1971 births Living people People from Keyport, New Jersey American emigrants to England American women podcasters American podcasters American Episcopalians American radio DJs American television hosts American lesbian actresses English lesbian actresses Lesbian comedians LGBT broadcasters from the United Kingdom American LGBT entertainers Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom English Anglicans English podcasters British women podcasters English radio personalities English television presenters British women television presenters LGBT people from New Jersey BBC Radio 6 Music presenters American women radio presenters American women television presenters Labour Party (UK) officials LGBT politicians from England 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people