The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2019 – Activists: Political

Femi Oluwole
Getty Images
Kate Proctor3 October 2019

Femi Oluwole

Co-founder and chief spokesman, Our Future Our Choice | NEW
Inspirational voice for the millennial generation who want a second EU referendum. He tours the country engaging with young people to get them to discuss the topics that led to Brexit, and encourages thousands to turn up to Remain rallies.

Benjamin Cohen

Founder and CEO, PinkNews | NEW
The whizzkid who created SoJewish.com while at school has become one of London’s best-connected activists with allies across Parliament, the media and showbiz. His ground-breaking Out4Marriage campaign harnessed the establishment to promote equal marriage. Diagnosed with MS, he is equally passionate about disabled rights.

Nimco Ali

Dave Benett

Anti-FGM campaigner and author | NEW
Tireless campaigner who suffered the procedure as a child and shares her powerful personal story to encourage change. In the last year she has ensured that stopping FGM around the globe is a priority for the Department for International Development and ensured that FGM is taught on the national curriculum.

Dolly Theis

Programme director the Big Tent Ideas Festival | NEW
This former Tory general election candidate for Vauxhall is something of a career polymath. Theis manages the inspirational Big Tent Ideas Festival held this autumn in the Barbican, is director of the 50:50 #askhertostand campaign to encourage women from all parties to stand for Parliament and a board member of various charities, all while studying for a Phd in epidemiology. Thinks outside the box and brings people together to discuss society’s biggest issues.

Amika George

Founder of Free Periods | NEW
George is a globally recognised campaigner against period poverty with her #freeperiods project, set up after discovering girls were missing school because they could not afford sanitary products. She secured a major win when the Government introduced free period products in all English secondary schools this year. A recipient of many international awards for her work normalising periods, all while still at school and university.

Will Tanner

Director of think tank Onward | NEW
Former adviser to Theresa May. He is extremely well connected to Government and Tory circles and is fighting to push forward a centre-right agenda in British political life. Not afraid to tackle the big issues, Tanner has commissioned agenda-setting research on UK productivity, diversity and helping young people thrive.

Leo Murray and Matt Bonner

EPA

Trump Baby blimp | NEW

The masterminds behind the crowd-funded Trump Baby blimp. The divisive six metre-high inflatable image of the president as a nappy-clad baby clutching a mobile phone has taken to the skies on both of Trump’s UK visits and in the Washington 4 July celebration. Attracted global attention from those outraged and delighted in equal measure.

Catherine Anderson

Chief executive, Jo Cox Foundation | NEW
Anderson is a long-standing charity campaigner with extensive expertise in community engagement. She is currently heading up the Jo Cox Foundation with enthusiasm and passion. The organisation’s Great Get Together community events enjoyed their most successful year yet, and she is keen to get communities talking.

Matt Zarb-Cousin

Campaigner against gambling abuse | NEW
His lobbying for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling ensured the Government introduced a maximum stake on the fixed odds betting terminals of £2 in April. The industry has since reported a major change in the way people gamble, giving greater protections to addicts, although 12,000 jobs are now at risk. Currently working for Gamban, a software company that blocks gambling sites and apps for addicts.

James Sadri, Oliver Knowles, Will Rose, Ben Stewart

Jeremy Sutton-Hibbert

Members of the anti-Brexit stunt group Led by Donkeys | NEW
The leaders in what has become a golden era for political stunts. The 40-something north Londoners blitzed the capital with a guerilla billboard campaign, highlighting old tweets by Brexiteers which now read awkwardly at best, hypocritically at worst. Their giant banner flown over the heads of Vote Leave protesters ensured their pro-EU cause hit the national news.

Roger Hallam and Gail Bradbrook

Extinction Rebellion, co-founders | NEW
After bringing London to a standstill back in April, Extinction Rebellion, led by co-founders Hallam and Bradbrook, has grown into an international anti-climate change movement. Hallam was recently charged with attempting to disrupt Heathrow Airport using a drone while protesting against the third runway.

The Progress 1000, in partnership with the global bank Citi, is the Evening Standard’s celebration of the people changing London’s future for the better. #Progress1000

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in