After Dinner Speakers: Jimmy Somerville, George Martin, Gil Scott Heron

He was the lead singer of the British pop group, Bronski Beat. In the 1980s he was in the militant stream of left-wing politics. He was an active member of the Anti-Nazi League and the Labour Party Young Socialists. He demonstrated against the closure of coal mines and against the Tory government. In the late 1980s he became involved in ACT-UP and advocated direct action and civil disobedience. After disagreements over politics he left Bronski Beat. He joined The Communards with Richard Coles. Their single For a Friend was one of the first pop hits to address AIDS. The group's Don't Leave Me this Way was number one in the British charts for four weeks in September/October 1986. Jimmy Somerville appeared as a little angel in Sally Potter's film adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Orlando in 1992. In 1993 he set up Normal films with director and producer Isaac Julien and film-maker Steve McLean.