Icon Events International Politician of the Year – Lord Alli

Unfortunately Lord Alli could not be present on the evening so the award was presented by Lynne Featherstone, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) for the Home Office and received by Michael Cashman MEP
Waheed Alli started his career in publishing and moved to investment banking, and then to television production. Waheed joined the Labour Party and chose to spearhead the campaign to repeal Section 28. He was made a life peer as Baron Alli of Norbury in the London Borough of Croydon in 1998 at the age of 34, becoming the youngest and the first openly gay peer in Parliament. As Lord Alli, he advocated lowering the age of consent for homosexuals and, during a debate with Conservative opponents, he informed his fellow peers he was gay. He is famed for saying “I have never been confused about my sexuality. I have been confused about the way I am treated as a result of it. The only confusion lies in the prejudice shown, some of it tonight, and much of it enshrined in the law.” 

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