On October 2, Amy Lamé stepped down from her post as London’s first Night Czar.
The erstwhile comedian, cabaret host and radio DJ had been under constant scrutiny since she took up the role in 2016, especially following a pair of salary increases (recently tipping £132,846 per year – only £30,000 less than the Prime Minister) in a period when the city’s venues have been struggling to cope. As mentioned on No Tags recently, the UK is reportedly losing five late night venues a week.
But for every dismissive Four Tet tweet or NME article (‘What exactly is the point of you?’) there have also been measured defences of Lamé’s achievements by people deeply involved in the city’s nightlife, including Dalston Superstore and Chapter 10 founder Dan Beaumont.
One of those defences came last week from journalist and Party Lines author Ed Gillett, who argued that London nightlife could end up poorer for Lamé stepping down. So we’re joined by Ed for this episode of No Tags to get the real tea on what Lamé was up to during her eight years in the post and how her job compares to similar roles in Amsterdam, Manchester, Bristol and Ireland. We also talk about why her position was so heavily criticised by the rightwing press and free market think tanks, and whether it was worth even employing a Night Czar in the first place.
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