Lynne Featherstone MP was named Stonewall’s ‘Politician of the Year’ at their annual awards ceremony yesterday. It was awarded jointly to Lynne and to this guy off Eastenders.
Lynne has been tireless in promoting LGBT+ rights over the last four and a half years and was the architect of the bill legalising same sex marriage.
Our first joint winner for the 2014 #StonewallAwards’ Politician of the Year is @lfeatherstone! pic.twitter.com/qPGPnsAess
— Stonewall (@stonewalluk) November 6, 2014
Lynne is the first non-Tory or Labour politician to win this award.
Very moved to win politician of the year along with Lord Cashman. Same sex marriage is one of the best things I'll ever do #StonewallAwards
— Lynne Featherstone (@lfeatherstone) November 6, 2014
This award comes within a couple of days of Lynne’s return as a minister in the Home Office, commenting:
I am very happy to be returning to the Home Office. I am very proud of what I was able to achieve in my previous role there, not least introducing equal marriage, ending the fingerprinting of children and banning wheel-clamping on private land. I am also looking forward to continuing my work tackling violence against women and girls, and on ending FGM at home and abroad. I have always had a very constructive relationship with Theresa May and I look forward to working with her again.
* Joe Otten was the candidate for Sheffield Heeley in June 2017 and Doncaster North in December 2019 and is a councillor in Sheffield.
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7 Comments
Richly deserved – Lynne has done so much on lgbt issues: both in government and before when she had to highlight Labour’s inaction on so many issues and conscious / deliberate transphobia.
Long overdue, and should – would – have happened sooner but for Stonewall’s cliquey approach to awards nominees and winners (and indeed general engagement).
Congratulations Lynne. Very much deserved. You are consistently up there as being one of the best Parliamentarians we have. I am sure several of your personal achievements during this Parliament will be gracing many a Focus leaflet next year! Thank you.
Really well deserved..
I suspect you were joking but, in all fairness, calling Lord Cashman “the guy off Eastenders” is a bit like calling Shirley Williams “the woman who was on the shortlist for the lead in “National Velvet” “or Michael Portillo “the guy off the Ribena adverts”. 😉
I was a bit put out that Stonewall headlined Cashman and not Featherstone in their write-up. But surely Michael Cashman’s role in Eastenders did a great deal of good for public acceptance of gay men in this country.
Paul Walter
I think the difference is that Shirley Williams has done a million important things since National Velvet and even Michael Portillo has moved on from Ribena to Blue Nun, as well as being the BBC’s ‘Sad Man on a Train’.
To most of us, Michael Cashman is still just that bloke who used to be on Eastenders.
In the same way — Nick Clegg is that man who sold out over tuition fees and failed to reform the House of Lords.
Sometimes particular actions or roles just stick in the public mind.
David Steel will never shake off the Spitting Image portrayal of him as a tiny puppet in David Owen’s top pocket,
Tony Blair will never shake off his statement about Weapons of Mass Destruction and the Iraq War.
Chilcot will never be remembered for the speed of publishing his report, if it ever does get published.
Funny how it got round to Nick Clegg
He’s been an MEP, is a peer, has a CBE and co-founded Stonewall. At least he deserves mention of that.