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Amy Lamé
Lamé in 2017
Born
Amy Caddle

(1971-01-03) 3 January 1971 (age 53)
Keyport, New Jersey, U.S.
CitizenshipUnited States / British
OccupationBroadcaster
Notable workDuckie
SpouseJennie Lamé

Amy Lamé (née Caddle; born 3 January 1971)[1][2] is an American-British performer, writer, and TV and radio presenter, known for her one-woman shows, her performance group Duckie, and LGBT-themed media works.

She was appointed by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, 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.[3][4]

Biography

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Amy Lamé was born and raised in Keyport, New Jersey, and moved to London in 1992.[3]

She is a lesbian[5] and is married to Jennie (née Hogan), her partner since 1995.[6]

Career

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Radio

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Lamé presented alongside Danny Baker on BBC London'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.[7]

Having sat in for a number of DJs on BBC Radio 6 Music (including Tom Ravenscroft, Lauren Laverne, Nemone, and Steve Lamacq), Lamé began hosting her own weekly Sunday show on the station from January 2018, replacing Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service.[8]

TV

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Lamé was a presenter on the BBC 2 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. Lamé has appeared on ITV reality show Celebrity Fit Club.[9] She was a panellist on Loose Women in 2004 and CelebAir,[10] and on Market Kitchen.[11] She was the mentor for LGBTQ teenagers on Channel 4's My Big Gay Prom.[12]

In 2009, she appeared in a Doctor Who related documentary titled Look 100 Years Younger, included on the DVD release of The Twin Dilemma, in which she discussed with actor Colin Baker 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.

Writing

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Lamé has contributed short stories to the anthology Typical Girls.[13] She also writes regular features on culture, travel, and food for The Times.[14]

Duckie and other works

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In 1995, Lamé, with Simon Strange, co-founded the Olivier-award-winning queer performance-club-night and collective Duckie,[15] which she hosts every Saturday night at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, a historic gay venue in Vauxhall.[16] In 1996 she curated, produced and hosted Keep The Faith at Tate Britain 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 missionary namesake, Joshua Sofaer, in Namesake: The Story of a Name; Jonathan Allen/Tommy Angel'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 and toured to gay male cruising grounds around the UK and Scandinavia. 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[17] and was later performed at the Soho Theatre, London,[18] toured the UK and performed at The Powerhouse, Brisbane, Australia[19]

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'.[20]

London Night Czar

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On 4 November 2016, Lamé was announced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan to be the first London night czar,[21] "tasked with ensuring London thrives as a 24-hour city."[22] She was initially awarded a salary of £116,925 per year for the role after being given a 40% pay rise in 2023 – she is also allowed to be paid via her Amy Lamé Ltd company to reduce her tax bill.[23][24][25] Shortly after her appointment, she was praised by Khan for her role in negotiating the reopening of the Fabric nightclub.[26] During her tenure London's night time economy has declined significantly with data showing that between March 2020 and December 2023, 3,011 night economy businesses in and around the capital closed – the steepest fall for any English region.[27]

Her role and the ability for the London Assembly to hold her to account has been a source of confusion, given that she is classed as a GLA member of staff[28] and therefore cannot be scrutinised by the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives or the Greens in the London Assembly.[29]

In May 2024, Amy Lamé was awarded her fourth pay rise a few days after the 2024 London Mayor Election, in which her pay for her 3 days a week role was increased to £132,846.[30]

In October 2024, Lamé's resignation from the role of night czar was announced. The news came in the wake of heavy criticism of her perceived inaction in the role. [31][32]

Politics

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Lamé is an active member of, and fundraiser for, the Labour Party.[33]

She is mentioned in Sarah Brown's memoir Behind the Black Door (2011), where she details Lamé's hen night celebrations in Downing Street.[34]

From May 2010 to May 2011, she held the ceremonial role of Mayoress of Camden alongside the Mayor, Councillor Jonathan Simpson.[35][36]

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.

In October 2018, Lamé successfully managed to lobby Waitrose to change the name of its Gentleman's Smoked Chicken Caesar Roll, after arguing that it was sexist.[37][38]

Controversies

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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 and fantasies of assaulting David Cameron and Sayeeda Warsi.[39]

In July 2018, Lamé was criticised by prominent music industry figures such as Four Tet and Andy Peyton after Hackney Council voted to make new businesses close at 11pm under new licensing laws.[40][41]

In March 2019, after live music venue The Social was saved from closing after a fundraising campaign, figures such as Andrew Boff called Amy Lamé's role as night czar into question, arguing that the position is an ineffective job and should be scrapped.[42]

In February 2020, it emerged that Lamé was paid an extra £1,000 out of Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's culture budget to host a drag act at Walthamstow Assembly Hall, which charged a £15 entry fee.[43][25]

References

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  1. ^ "Amy CADDLE – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. 7 May 2003. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  2. ^ Thompson, Jennifer (14 February 2018). "London's 'night tsar' champions the city after dark". Financial Times. London.
  3. ^ a b London's new Night Czar Amy Lamé facing growing questions over her business credentials | London Evening Standard
  4. ^ A night tsar is born: who is Amy Lamé? | UK news | The Guardian
  5. ^ Amy Lamé Dot Com. Retrieved 20 October 2012.
  6. ^ "This is What a Lesbian Looks Like: Amy Lamé – Curve Magazine – Web Articles 2012 – USA". Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  7. ^ "HomoLAB". PodOmatic. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  8. ^ "Jarvis Cocker's BBC 6 show to end". BBC News. 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Celebrity Fit Club". IMDb. 2004–2006. Retrieved 2 October 2012.
  10. ^ "CelebAir". IMDb. 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  11. ^ "Market Kitchen". IMDb. 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  12. ^ "My Big Gay Prom". Channel 4. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  13. ^ Corrigan, Susan (12 June 1999). Typical Girls: New Stories by Smart Women. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312206796.
  14. ^ "Travel: Related Features – Normandy". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010.
  15. ^ "People". Duckie. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  16. ^ Bridge, Haydon. "QX London Gay History: Southern Comfort" (PDF). QX. Retrieved 7 December 2023.
  17. ^ Baker, Adam (10 August 2006). "Amy Lamé's Mama Cass Family Singers". EdinburghGuide.com. p. 19. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  18. ^ Hazel (21 November 2006). "Mama Cass Family Singers Review". londonist.com. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  19. ^ "Amy Lamé's Mama Cass Family Singers". The Powerhouse. 2007. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
  20. ^ Naughton, Phillipe. "article". The Times. London. Retrieved 1 April 2011.[dead link‍]
  21. ^ "Sadiq Khan announces Amy Lamé as London's first Night Czar". Evening Standard. London. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  22. ^ "Night Czar | London City Hall". www.london.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  23. ^ Hill, Henry (1 March 2024). "What has Amy Lamé actually done for London?". The Spectator. Retrieved 25 April 2024.
  24. ^ "Khan's 'night czar' gets 40 per cent pay hike". 10 January 2023.
  25. ^ a b "Sadiq Khan urged to end 'culture of cronyism'". CityAM. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  26. ^ Smith, Saphora (21 November 2016). "Fabric London: Sadiq Khan hails his new Night Czar Amy Lamé after deal struck to reopen superclub". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
  27. ^ "London nightclubs closing at alarming rate – association". BBC News. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  28. ^ "Sadiq Khan earns more than Prime Minister as salary rises to £160,000 with pay hikes for top aides". Evening Standard. London. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  29. ^ "BBC Politics London excerpt on London's nightlife and the inability to scrutinise her in City Hall". X. London. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  30. ^ "Sadiq Khan earns more than Prime Minister as salary rises to £160,000 with pay hikes for top aides". Evening Standard. London. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  31. ^ Vickers, Noah (2 October 2024). "Sadiq Khan's night czar Amy Lamé quitting after eight years". Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  32. ^ Montgomery, Samuel (2 October 2024). "Sadiq Khan's night tsar to stand down from £132,000 role". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 3 October 2024.
  33. ^ "Everyone loves Sadiq Khan – except those who really know". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  34. ^ "February is LGBT History Month". Behindtheblackdoor.co.uk. February 2011. Archived from the original on 28 February 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  35. ^ "New first citizen to be 'Rock n Roll Mayor' with broadcaster Amy Lame as Mayoress". Camden New Journal. 25 May 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  36. ^ "Meet the mayor and mayoress of Camden". Evening Standard. London. 24 November 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  37. ^ Jamie Johnson (17 October 2018). "Waitrose to rename 'sexist' sandwich after protest by feminist campaigner". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  38. ^ "Google News – Waitrose renames 'sexist' Gentleman's Roll after complaints". 27 June 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  39. ^ "Night Czar Amy Lamé told to delete offensive tweets about Tories, one compares George Osborne to a c*** | London Evening Standard". Evening Standard. London. 24 November 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  40. ^ Mattha Busby @matthabusby (20 July 2018). "London's night czar criticised following imposition of strict new curfew rules in Hackney". The Independent. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  41. ^ NME https://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/amy-lame-hackney-council-night-czar-2357031
  42. ^ "Should London's night czar role be scrapped?". BBC News. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  43. ^ "Sadiq's 'culture of cronyism' over Night Czar's drag act payment". LBC. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
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