Charles Alfred Anglin (born in 29 January 1971 in London) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the London Borough of Lambeth. He was (until defeated in May 2006) a councillor for Prince's ward in Kennington (along with Keith Fitchett and Dinti Wakefield).

Anglin was educated at Addey and Stanhope School, Deptford and Queen Mary, University of London where he gained a degree in History and Politics. Whilst a student he was involved in the Queen Mary Students' Union and the National Union of Students where he was the Liberal Democrat candidate for President of NUS.

2005 general election

In the 1997 general election he stood in the Leyton and Wanstead constituency and in the 2005 general election in the Vauxhall constituency. In both cases he was unsuccessful but increased the Liberal Democrats' share of the vote.

In an interview for the Today Programme after the 2005 election, Anglin blamed the defeat partly on the policy of local income tax which he said allowed the party to be "caricatured as a left-wing tax and spend party". Until its closure in 2005 Anglin was a member of modernising thinktank Liberal Future.

2006 Lambeth Borough Council elections

Anglin lost his Council seat in May 2006 after a highly negative campaign, which included claims that he was the victim of an ‘anti-gay’ smear. This followed coverage in the South London Press, a local tabloid newspaper, of Anglin’s personal ad on Gaydar, a gay dating website. Following complaints from the Liberal Democrats a police investigation was launched into the distribution of anonymous homophobic hate literature during the campaign.

Gay groups condemned the revelations, with well known campaigner Peter Tatchell of Outrage defending Anglin telling Pink News "This story is gratuitous titillation, there is not even a public interest grounds for revealing these details. He is not being hypocritical or homophobic." Tatchell praised the councillor's work in areas of lesbian gay transgender and bisexual rights, "Charles was a long-time and much valued activist in Outrage, he's done much positive work for LGBT human rights. He doesn't deserve to be sensationalised in this puerile way."

Anglin himself commented "I am a gay man, I've always been open about my sexuality, this is my private life and I don't see what the fuss is about.

"There's no issue of hypocrisy and no suggestion that it prevents me doing my job as a councillor."

Election result

Charles Anglin was defeated in the Lambeth Borough Council elections held on 4 May 2006. All three Liberal Democrat councillors standing in Princes ward were defeated in the Labour landslide, which saw the Lib Dems lose 10 seats across the Borough. The larger than average swing against the Lib Dems in Princes ward was widely seen as the result of an unusually high evangelical Christian vote, motivated in part by the negative campaign against Anglin.

External links

The Dissenter's Voice - Charles Anglin's weblog

Charles Anglin PPC profile at Liberal Democrats website

Black information link - Battle for the heart of Brixton

Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Charles Anglin