ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Top City jobs are still dominated by “straight, white, elite-educated” men despite efforts by gay and lesbian people to break through the glass ceiling, a leading lawyer said today.

Daniel Winterfeldt, a partner at CMS, said that huge strides in equality had been made for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees but there was still much to be done to get them into the boardroom.

CMS is the legal sponsor of Pride, which this year includes a dinner at The Mansion House hosted by Lord Mayor of London Fiona Woolf, with guest of honour Sir Ian McKellen.

The Pride parade on June 28 will see thousands of people marching and dancing from Baker Street to Trafalgar Square.

Mr Winterfeldt said that a major report into LGBT workers found too few in senior roles in the City. He said: “The report says that if you’re straight, white, male and elite-educated you are paid the highest and you think things are the fairest and work is allocated in the best way.

“When you think LGBT people are between 10 and 15 per cent of the population, by no means are they occupying 10 to 15 per cent of leadership roles.”

He added: “If you look superficially it’s an amazing time, people are making the right noises and have the right diversity policies in place, but it’s not getting people into management where the decisions are made.

“As far as out CEOs of FTSE-100 business, I think Christopher Bailey of Burberry is it.”

Mr Winterfeldt, 41, founded the InterLaw diversity forum, a network with more than 1,500 LGBT members in law, corporate and financial firms.He said: “You can get angry and frustrated that it’s unfair — or you can do something about it.

“The cases of really awful, direct discrimination do happen but I think they are few and far between, such as a trainee who wrote for the report that a senior partner dedicated his life to harassing him to the point where he had to leave his job.”

“But the thing that affects most people is the unconscious bias, such as work allocation.”

He added: “In my first job I’d be the only out person among 500 people in my offices. It was isolating in the sense that it was lonely — I didn’t know if I could be senior and gay.”

Michael Salter, Pride in London chairman, said: “Bankers’ and lawyers’ groups march alongside community groups from every part of the capital, charities, health workers, the police, armed forces, sports clubs, performers and proud parents.”

Go to www.prideinlondon.org