Amy Lamé, 45-year-old broadcaster and comedian, has made a name for herself in London’s LGBTQ nightlife scene for being an outspoken trailblazer. A New Jersey native who moved to the U.K. at 21, she began her career in the mid-’90s with one-woman shows like Gay Man Trapped In A Lesbian’s Body and Cum Manifesto. For the past 21 years, she’s also run a raucous weekly club night named Duckie at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London’s oldest LGBTQ pub. Her candor extends to her left-wing politics, too: she was the ceremonial mayor of Camden in 2010, she stood (unsuccessfully) as a Labour party candidate in 2014, and, the following year, she launched an ongoing campaign to save the Royal Vauxhall Tavern from being renovated into apartments by property developers.

All of these things suggest that Lamé should make an excellent Night Czar — a role she was given in November 2016, by new London mayor Sadiq Khan, who promised during his campaign to tackle the problem of London nightclubs closing at an alarming rate. (London has lost about 35% of its music venues since 2007.) Lamé’s role was modeled after similar “night mayors” in Amsterdam and Paris, who protect the nightlife economies of their cities by mediating between nighttime businesses, residents, and authorities.

For some, Lamé’s outspokenness raised concerns about whether or not she was suited for the role. After her appointment, a small scandal erupted over some old, Conservative-bashing tweets. But in her new position, she actually comes across as somewhat more muted than in her activist past. At Nocturnal City, a panel about London and Berlin nightlife, held at London’s Somerset House in March, Lamé was warm and entertaining, but played safe when it came to difficult subjects. This was especially clear when an audience member asked the panel about the differences between London and Berlin’s approach to drug policing. Lutz Leichsenring, press officer for Berlin’s Club Commission, spoke about the importance of education and safety. When it was the turn of Lamé to talk, she clutched her mic and said nothing. After a few long seconds of silence, the panel ended.

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Drug policy does not fall directly within Lamé’s remit, but it is an issue that has a direct impact on the nightlife economy. In September 2016, techno superclub Fabric temporarily lost its license when two teenage boys died after taking ecstasy at the venue. Lamé’s hesitance, on the panel, to speak on issues that lie outside of City Hall’s comfort zone raised a couple questions: what powers does she have, and how does her bold, boundary-breaking character fit into this new public official role?

Ahead of the Somerset House event, The FADER sat down with Lamé, who spoke effusively about how she hopes to preserve London’s marginalized spaces.