The ugly side of London’s nightlife debate
Along with legitimate gripes, Amy Lamé faces a barrage of hate
Morning — with recent headlines like “London is officially the worst city for a night out in the UK”, it’s no wonder Amy Lamé is taking a lot of heat. Her £132,000 salary and trips abroad have become particular objects of derision, as the capital’s late-night haunts struggle. But there are critics, and then there are haters.
London’s night czar faces a deluge of toxic and abusive comments online, our investigation today shows, that’s perhaps second only to what’s targeted at her boss, Sadiq Khan. Look to the edges of the debate around Lamé and London nightlife, and you find offensive comments about her appearance, claims she’s only in the job because of her sexuality, or even conspiracy theories that she’s part of an Islamist plot to ruin London. A stat we’ve gathered from X/Twitter is particularly dire — one in ten posts that mentioned Lamé in the fortnight after her re-appointment in May make a derogatory remark about her weight, looks or the fact she’s a lesbian.
To some extent, it’s a nasty distraction from very real concerns about how London’s night economy is being steered by Lamé through its toughest period in recent memory. But while responsibility ultimately lies with the trolls, we’ve also found examples of her political opponents turning a blind eye. The hate risks overshadowing a bigger question: is the problem Lamé, or are there fatal flaws with the job she’s been given?
The ugly side of London’s nightlife debate is below.
With London’s local media on its knees, who’s keeping an eye on the trolls? Today’s piece is only available in full to our paid subscribers, whose support for the Spy gives us the time to properly delve into the darker corners of the capital’s social media. They’ve also helped pay for reporting from Morgan Jones, a freelancer who’s collaborated with us on this piece and has been speaking to City Hall insiders for their take on Amy Lamé. You can help support us too by using the button below, or start a 7-day trial at the end of your article preview.
Why does Amy Lamé get so much hate?
By Morgan Jones and the Spy team
It was intended as a celebratory photo, posted to X/Twitter on the day she learned she’d be keeping her job. “I’m proud to serve as London’s night czar — there’s so much to look forward to in the next four years,” Lamé wrote on May 4, shortly after Sadiq Khan’s re-election as mayor was announced. There were a few congrats in the replies, though mostly jibes — about the number of bars and clubs closing in London, or her more than £100,000 salary. But some just spat venom — directly attacking her appearance.
The grim truth about Amy Lamé, the person tasked with safeguarding London’s nightlife, is she’s a lightning rod for hate. For every legitimate gripe aimed at the night czar, a toxic pile-on isn’t far away. The comments on an article about her recent pay rise in the Mail Online is a case in point. Sort them by the most liked, and you’ll soon come across posts asking if she just ‘ticks rainbow boxes’ or suggesting she looks like a man. All in all, offensive comments like these were liked more than 4,000 times by other Mail readers on just that one article, and disliked only 23 times.
Seeing this on a right-wing news site or a lightly moderated social media platform might not come as a surprise — but we’ve uncovered examples of her political opponents failing to deal with personal attacks on Lamé too.
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