![Simon Fanshawe at GED conference](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Simon_Fanshawe_at_GED_conference.jpg)
Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe
OBE (born 26 December 1956, in
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...
, England) is a writer and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. He is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public and private organisations. Fanshawe was one of the founders of the LGBT charity
Stonewall. He won the
Perrier Comedy Award
The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...
in 1989. In 2019, he became one of the supporters of the initialive that led to the formation of the
LGB Alliance
The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group founded in the UK in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders were Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malcolm Clark and Ann S ...
.
Career
Fanshawe first came to public attention as a comedian in the early 1980s. In 1984, he appeared on the
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 ...
comedy sketch/stand-up show ''The Entertainers'', which showcased up-and-coming comedy talent, and later that year appeared in his comedy act ''Three of a Different Kind'' at the
Edinburgh Festival
__NOTOC__
This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland.
The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
. Following a nomination in 1987, he later won the prestigious
Perrier Comedy Award
The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...
in 1989.
He had a stint as a presenter on the BBC television programme ''
That's Life!
''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week.
The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...
'' in 1990.
Alongside working in comedy, Fanshawe has been a frequent contributor on a variety of subjects from arts to politics in newspapers and on many BBC radio and TV programmes. His BBC Radio 4 profile light-heartedly describes him as a "media tart".
Fanshawe has been involved in many community and campaigning groups and public bodies – often as a board member. He led the successful campaign to make Brighton and Hove a city in 2000. He was the chairman of the board for the
Brighton Festival Fringe
Brighton Fringe is an open-access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world. The programme of 2018 included 1008 events at over 166 v ...
and is on the board of the
Edinburgh Fringe
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 ...
. He founded and chaired the economic strategy body of his home town, The Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership. He was chairman of Brighton & Hove Local Radio Ltd from 1996 to 2000, when the company was acquired by Forever Broadcasting.
In 2006, Fanshawe made the documentary ''The Trouble with Gay Men'', shown on
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
.
Fanswhawe was a co-founder of the LGBT charity
Stonewall.
In 2007, Fanshawe presented the first programme in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''Building Britain'' series, concentrating his attentions on the key role of developers in making cities over the last two centuries.
In 2017, Fanshawe presented the BBC documentary ''Brighton: 50 Years of Gay'' in which he examined the landmark
, which legalised male homosexual acts in the UK, and its effect on the population of the City of Brighton.
In 2019, he publicly broke with Stonewall due to their "intolerance of disagreement and discussion" and helped found the
later that year.
, where he studied law. He is now chair of the university's governing council. He was appointed
in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to higher education.
Fanshawe lives in the
area of Brighton.
Fanshawe has been a presenter or contributor on the following radio programmes:
* ''
'', a BBC television light entertainment series. A humour contributor, for one series only, in 1990.
* ''