The former night czar of London, Amy Lamé, has created her own consulting firm called 24hr Cities. Lamé recently stepped down from her role after concerns were raised about a decline in London nightlife, despite earning a six-figure salary from the London Mayor’s office. Lamé has taken on a role as the founder and director of her new company, according to her LinkedIn page.
The name of Lamé’s company is a nod to her continued claims during her time as night czar for London that the city was a “24-hour city”. Her role was to extend the accessibility of the city during nighttime hours since her employment in 2016 by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Her consistent boasts were met with criticism when Londoners noticed a decline in the number of extended licenses for venues, in addition to a lack of late-night bars and restaurants across the city.
Lamé describes herself as a “specialist in night time policy, engagement, strategy, and diplomacy” on her LinkedIn page and explains that her time as night czar involved working towards making sure London remained vibrant, safe, and diverse between the hours of 6 pm and 6 am. Despite criticism during her time in the role of night czar, Lamé has claimed that she brokered the re-opening of Printworks after it was announced that it would close to be redeveloped into offices.
In November of last year, just after she had left her position as night czar, Lamé drew controversy after commenting on the closure of Charing Cross LGBTQIA+ venue Heaven. A member of the venue’s security staff was charged with the rape of an 18-year-old woman outside the venue, but Lamé criticized Westminster Council’s decision to close the venue. Critics online marked this as insensitive towards the victim and forced Lamé to change her message twice on Instagram
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