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Aidan Joseph McQuade is a former Director (Chief Executive) of Anti-Slavery International [1] from 2006-2017. [2]
He comes from South Armagh, Northern Ireland. [3]
McQuade is a contributor to The Guardian, [4] Equal Times [5] and The Independent [6] on issues of slavery, forced labour and related matters. In 2013 he highlighted the need for slavery eradication to be made a post-2015 Sustainable Development Goal. [7] In 2014 he called for greater regulation of international business to reduce slavery in global supply chains. [8] In an article for The Independent in March 2015 he accused Sepp Blatter of Fifa of moral responsibility for the death and enslavement of South Asian construction workers preparing Qatar for the 2022 World Cup. [9]
In 2012/13, he won the BBC's Mastermind Quiz with specialist subject, Abraham Lincoln. [10] When asked about the stress of the quiz, MacQuade replied "It takes as much energy to think as to panic". [10]
He received an honorary OBE for his work in anti-slavery in 2017, which he returned in 2024 in response to government policies, in particular the plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda [11]
Jonathan Stephen Ross is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross during the 2000s and early 2010s, hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 from 1999 to 2010, and served as film critic and presenter of the Film programme.
Ruby Wax is a British-American actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986).
Sandra Birgitte Toksvig is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written plays, novels and books for children. In 1994, she came out as a lesbian.
Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. He was included in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008. In his work, Zephaniah drew on his lived experiences of incarceration, racism and his Jamaican heritage.
Christopher Nicholas Parsons was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show Just a Minute and hosted the game show Sale of the Century during the 1970s and early 1980s.
Kathryn Adie is an English journalist. She was Chief News Correspondent for BBC News between 1989 and 2003, during which time she reported from war zones around the world.
John Walker Motson was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Motson was the dominant football commentary figure at the BBC, apart from a brief spell in the mid-1990s.
Sophie Okonedo is a British actress. The recipient of a Tony Award, she has been nominated for an Academy Award, three BAFTA TV Awards, an Emmy Award, two Laurence Olivier Awards, and a Golden Globe Award. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2019, both for services to drama.
Andrew Zaltzman is a British comedian who largely deals in political and sport-related material.
Alan Francis Simpson was an English scriptwriter, best known for the Galton and Simpson comedy writing partnership with Ray Galton. Together they devised and wrote the BBC sitcom Hancock's Half Hour (1954–1961), the first two series of Comedy Playhouse (1961–1963), and Steptoe and Son (1962–1974).
Miles Hugh Barrett Jupp is an English actor, singer, and comedian. He began his career as a stand-up comedian before playing the role of the inventor Archie in the children's television series Balamory. He also played John Duggan in The Thick of It, Nigel in the sitcom Rev and appeared on many comedy panel shows. In September 2015, Jupp replaced Sandi Toksvig as the host of The News Quiz on BBC Radio 4.
Clive Augustus Myrie is an English journalist, newsreader and presenter who works for the BBC. He is one of the BBC's chief news presenters and correspondents. Since August 2021 he has been the host of the long-running BBC quiz shows Mastermind and Celebrity Mastermind.
Rory David Best is an Irish former rugby union player who was the captain of the Ireland national team from 2016 to 2019. He played hooker for Ulster and was registered for Banbridge RFC. Best earned 124 caps for Ireland, making his debut in 2005 and retiring at the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, his fourth World Cup. Best is one of the most capped rugby players of all time, as well as the most-capped forward to represent Ireland.
David Harewood OBE is a British actor and the current president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in Homeland (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in Supergirl (2015–2021).
James Graham is a British playwright and screenwriter. His work has been staged throughout the UK and internationally, at theatres including the Bush, Soho Theatre, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, and the National Theatre.
Johnathan McKinstry is a Northern Irish football manager, who is the current head coach of Kenyan Premier League club Gor Mahia.
The Disappeared are people believed to have been abducted, murdered and secretly buried in Northern Ireland, the large majority of which occurred during the Troubles. The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains (ICLVR) is in charge of locating the remaining bodies, and was led by forensic archaeologist John McIlwaine.
Kevin Hyland, OBE was the United Kingdom’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, leading efforts to tackle slavery and human trafficking. He left the post in May 2018 and was succeeded by Dame Sara Thornton. He is the Chair of IHRB's Leadership Group for Responsible Recruitment, collaboration between leading companies and expert organisations to drive positive change in the way that migrant workers are recruited. He was formerly head of the London Metropolitan Police Service’s Human Trafficking Unit.
Michael Hugh Taylor is an historian and a former Irish first-class cricketer who played for Cambridge University Cricket Club from 2008 to 2014. Following his academic studies in history, Taylor has written two popular books on aspects of nineteenth-century history, and contributed to public debate on Britain's role in slavery.
David Adetayo Olusoga is a British historian, writer, broadcaster, presenter and filmmaker. He is Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester. He has presented historical documentaries on the BBC and contributed to The One Show and The Guardian.