Acclaimed actor and long-term gay rights activist Sir Ian McKellen has backed Labour with an enthusiastic endorsement of the party’s LGBT manifesto, launched yesterday.

McKellen is co-founder of the charity Stonewall and patron of LGBT history month and London Pride, as well as other gay rights charities and organisations. He said the proposals set out by Labour would “make the world a better safer place”:

“I am impressed by the aims and commitments of Labour’s manifesto for LGBT people, particularly the appointment of Michael Cashman as an international LGBT Rights Envoy. Such initiatives cost little, yet help make the world a better safer place for us all.”

The actor, known for both his roles on stage as much as his turns in blockbusters such as X-Men and Lord of the Rings, is famously good friends with vocal Labour supporter Sir Patrick Stewart – but usually restricts his own campaigning to LGBT politics.

McKellen is also understood to be friends with Lord Cashman, a former actor and fellow Stonewall founder who was made a Labour peer after stepping down as an MEP last year.

The 75 year old is just the latest celebrity endorsement for Labour – an election broadcast last month featuring Martin Freeman and David Tennant was viewed more than a million times online.