Waheed Alli, Baron Alli

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder Waheed Alli, Baron Alli (born 16 November 1964) is a British media entrepreneur and politician. He has held executive positions at several television production companies including the Endemol Shine Group, Carlton Television Productions (now ITV Studios), Planet 24, and Chorion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Alli served as the Chief Executive of Silvergate Media until 2022,<ref>Sony Pictures Television Names Joe D’Ambrosia EVP & GM Of Kids Programming Subsidiary Silvergate Media</ref> Chairman of Koovs Plc and a director at Olga Productions. He is a member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, sitting as a life peer for the Labour Party, and is described as one of only a few openly gay Muslim politicians in the world.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Early life

Alli’s mother, a nurse, is an Indo-Trinidadian from Trinidad and Tobago, and his estranged father, a mechanic, is an Indo-Guyanese from Guyana. His mother was Hindu and his father Muslim; he has two brothers, one Hindu and the other Muslim.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Alli attended Stanley Technical College in South Norwood and left school at 16 with nine O-levels.<ref name="KC">Knitting Circle. Template:Webarchive</ref>

Business career

Alli started work as a junior researcher for a finance magazine, crediting his first success to Salem Ghayar, who hired and mentored him. After a few years of preparing monthly reports for potential investors, he was headhunted by Save & Prosper, part of Robert Fleming & Co.<ref name="asianoutlook.com">Interviewed by Shahid. The Asian Outlook. No date; approximately 2001.</ref> Eventually he returned to his original employer, and worked his way up in the media business within Robert Maxwell's stable of publications.

He then went to the City for a second career in investment banking, through which he became wealthy.<ref name="BBC">Template:Cite news</ref> In the mid-1980s he met Charlie Parsons, who was to become his business partner as well as his life partner.<ref name="The Independent (Saturday 06 June 2015)">Template:Cite web</ref>

Alli's third career, and the first in which he achieved public prominence, was in the television industry. He and Parsons set up 24 Hour Productions, which produced The Word, "the most talked about television programme in Britain".<ref name="KC" /> In 1992 they merged with Bob Geldof's Planet Pictures to form Planet 24. Such was its success that it became one of the largest TV production companies in the country, and the main independent supplier to Channel 4.<ref name="KC" /> It was responsible for genre-breaking programmes such as Big Breakfast and Survivor. Carlton Television bought Planet 24 in March 1999 for £15 million, with Alli and Parsons retaining the rights to the lucrative Survivor format. Waheed Alli became a Carlton board director before stepping down a year later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2003, Alli took over as chairman of the media rights company Chorion Ltd,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which owns rights to Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie, and has offices beyond the UK in New York, Sydney, and Tokyo.<ref name="AIM" /> He was chairman of AIM-listed ASOS.com<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and a director of Olga Television, entertainer Paul O'Grady's production company. He also backed Shine Limited, Elisabeth Murdoch's media production company, which she later sold to 21st Century Fox (owned by her father Rupert Murdoch) for £211 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August 2011, he stepped down from the chairmanship of Chorion, selling half his stake in ASOS.com the next month for £14.25 million.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The sale helped to finance Alli's new company, Silvergate Media, and its purchase of the rights to Beatrix Potter and Octonauts from Chorion.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

He was part of a failed £100m bid backed by private equity firm 3i to buy Virgin Radio from SMG plc in 2005. In March 2007, he was appointed as SMG's non-executive director.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Alli was a founder investor in Koovs, an Indian online retailer looking to replicate the success of ASOS in the subcontinent. The company was set up in 2012, intending to raise £22m with a stock market listing on London's AIM.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2019, the company went into administration after funding could not be found. The administration of Koovs was extended due to shareholders' concerns. FRP Advisory state this in their most recent update to the market.Template:When

Politics

Template:Main Alli joined the Labour Party at the persuasion of his neighbour Emily Thornberry, to whom he remains close.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is also close to Anji Hunter, Director of Government Relations in Tony Blair's first government.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Prime Minister Blair used him for years as a means to help him reach out to a younger generation (aka "youth subculture").<ref name="BBC" /><ref name="CV" /> He was made a life peer as Baron Alli, of Norbury in the London Borough of Croydon, on 18 July 1998<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref><ref>Minutes and Order Paper – Minutes of Proceedings – The House of Lords Template:Webarchive Parliament (19 July 1998). Retrieved on 15 March 2013.</ref> at the age of 34, becoming the youngest and the first openly gay peer in Parliament. He sits on the Labour benches in the House of Lords. The BBC summarised his appointment as "the antithesis of the stereotypical 'establishment' peer – young, Asian and from the world of media and entertainment".<ref name="BBC"/>

He maintains ties with his Caribbean roots, both with other British-Guyanese politicians such as Valerie Amos and Trevor Phillips, and with President Bharrat Jagdeo.<ref name="CV">John Muir, "Caribbean Peers" Template:Webarchive, Caribbean Voice, October 2001.</ref>

Alli has used his political position to argue for gay rights.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He spearheaded the campaign to repeal Section 28.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He advocated lowering the age of consent for homosexuals from 18 to 16, equal to heterosexuals; this eventually became law as the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000. It was during a heated exchange with conservative opponents, led by Baroness Young, that he informed his fellow peers that he was gay. In April 1999, he said in a speech, "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 [i.e. in the House], and much of it enshrined in the law."<ref name="BBC"/><ref name="Hansard: Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000">Template:Cite Hansard</ref>

In 2006, he participated in the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights adopting the Declaration of Montreal and in 2009, he spearheaded an effort to repeal clauses in the Civil Partnership Act 2004 which prohibited religious institutions from conducting the ceremonies on their premises.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This campaign culminated in a bipartisan amendment, which became part of the Equality Act 2010.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He influenced the draft Communications Bill in 2003.<ref name="AIM" />

Under the leadership of Keir Starmer, Alli has led the Labour Party's fundraising efforts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2024, The Guardian reported that Alli had donated £500,000 to the party since 2020, as well as giving Starmer personal donations worth over £50,000.<ref name=Stacey>Template:Cite web</ref>

Controversies

In August 2024, The Times reported that Alli had been given unrestricted access to 10 Downing Street, uncommon for anyone not formally employed in the Prime Minister's office, and that he had held a reception for party donors in the Downing Street garden.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> Pat McFadden later told Sky News that he did not think that Alli still held a Downing Street pass.<ref name=Stacey /> He was also reported to have gifted Starmer nearly £16,200 of free clothing, which initially was not properly declared, while Starmer’s wife, Victoria, was given £5,000 of free clothing, which at first was not declared.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref> The Daily Telegraph referred to Alli's loan of a "swanky" apartment to the Starmers, with a value of £20,000, as "donor-gate."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Labour MPs repeatedly used the apartment. On 13 December 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Starmer recorded there a Christmas message urging the public to work from home, while giving the impression he was in his own home, with a family photo behind him.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The Telegraph also reported that Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner faced an investigation by the parliamentary standards commissioner over the use of Alli's $2.5-million New York apartment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 27 September, Starmer admitted Alli gave him £32,000 to pay for clothing, double what he had previously declared.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>

As of October 2024, Lord Alli is under investigation by the House of Lords Commissioner for Standards for "alleged non-registration of interests leading to potential breaches of paragraphs 14(a) and 17 of the thirteenth edition of the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords".<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref>

Philanthropy and recognition

Philanthropy

Alli's work has focused on gay rights, youth and education.

He is the President of the Croydon Youth Development Trust.<ref>Croydon Youth Development Trust Template:Webarchive</ref> He is a patron of Skillset,<ref>Skillset Board of Patrons Template:Webarchive</ref> the Sector Skills Council supporting skills and training within the creative media industries.

In 2002 he became a patron of The Albert Kennedy Trust, stating: "Being a teenager isn't easy and it's particularly difficult for vulnerable and socially excluded members of our community. The Albert Kennedy Trust offers young gay men, lesbians and bisexuals a unique and targeted service. My first task as Patron will be to support plans to extend these services across the UK, to help the increasing number of young people contacting the Trust." Alli is a patron of Oxford Pride, the annual Pride event in Oxfordshire, of Pride London and of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Recognition

Alli is a former Chancellor of De Montfort University in Leicester.Template:Fact

Alli has been regarded as one of a number of prominent Guyanese people in Britain.<ref>Guyanese Achievers UK, Trafford Publishing (2007) by Dindayal Vidur.</ref> In 2005 he was named by "Asians In Media" online magazine as one of the 20 most important Asians in British media<ref name="AIM">Template:Usurped. Asians in Media</ref>

In 2008 he won a Stonewall Award for the category of political figure.Template:Fact

A portrait of Alli is in the National Portrait Gallery collection.<ref>"Waheed Alli, Baron Alli (1964-), Television producer and politician", National Portrait Gallery.</ref>

External links

• Template:UK Peer links
• Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords, House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 21 July 1998
• Oxford Pride Template:Webarchive
• BBC profile, 29 November 2000.
• Template:Usurped, 2005.
• Caribbean Voice profile, October 2001.
• Knitting Circle profileTemplate:Dead link, with press cuttings
• The Albert Kennedy Trust