LGBT Labour raise a record amount of money for LGBT candidates

LGBT Labour have raised a record amount of money to support openly lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) candidates in the election.

The group have made £25,000, which will be split across 26 seats where LGBT candidates are standing for the first time. Nine of these are on Labour’s target seat list. There are 35 openly-LGBT candidates standing to be Labour MPs in May – the nine who haven’t received a donation have already served as MPs in the last parliament.

The money has been raised as part of the Chris Smith List – a fund established in 2009 for LGBT parliamentary candidates. This is named after Lord Smith of Finsbury who was the first openly gay MP – he came out in 1984. He was also the first openly gay minister (he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in 1997) and announced in 2005 that he was HIV positive. He is the only MP to have ever done this.

Over the past 6 years, the Chris Smith List has given out £40,000 to openly-LGBT candidate standing in general elections, London Assembly elections and the European elections.

LGBT Labour co-chair Bev Craig explained the importance of money:

“Only by getting more openly-LGBT people in Parliament will we be a democracy fit for the 21st century. The Chris Smith List has already helped candidates up and down the country. On 7 May we’re sure that these vital funds will elect more LGBT Labour MPs and help secure the Labour government that this country needs.” 

Andrew Pakes, Labour’s candidate for Milton Keynes South, also celebrated Labour’s past on supporting LGBT rights:

“Labour has a strong record on delivering LGBT rights but we need to ensure that there are MPs in Parliament to lead the campaign for equality goes on. The Chris Smith List is hugely important in helping to achieve that and ensuring the next generation of Labour MPs has openly LGBT MPs who can support and speak up for the LGBT community.”