Simon Fanshawe

Simon Fanshawe OBE is a broadcaster, writer, and social justice activist. 

Simon came to public attention in the 1980s as a comedian, appearing on Channel 4 and winning The Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe. Alongside, he established a career as a broadcaster, hosting arts, culture, and talk programmes on BBC’s Radio 4, Talk Radio, and ITV among many others.

Fanshawe has written on the arts, politics, gay issues, diversity and equality for many of the UK’s leading outlets, and had columns in The Guardian and Time Out. 

In the late 1980s, Fanshawe was one of the six founders of the LGBT charity Stonewall and in 2011 co-founded the international charity Kaleidoscope. Today, he consults public organisations and businesses on issues of diversity and inclusion.

Fanshawe was awarded the OBE in 2013 for services to higher education. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Sussex and is the Lord Rector of the University of Edinburgh.