Shami Chakrabarti

Shami Chakrabarti CBE (born in London, June 16 1969) has been the director of Liberty, a British pressure group, since September 2003.

After graduating from the London School of Economics, Chakrabarti worked as a barrister at the Home Office, before joining Liberty on 10 September, 2001. She spent the following two years campaigning against the anti-terrorist measures which followed the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States , such as Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA), and is a prominent opponent of recent counter-terrorism legislation. She is a frequent contributor to BBC Radio 4 and to The Independent newspaper on the topic of human rights and civil liberties.

In December 2005, the BBC Radio 4 Today programme ran a poll of listeners to establish "who runs Britain". After many hours of debate involving subject matter experts, Today placed Shami Chakrabarti on the shortlist of ten people who may run Britain. Listeners were then invited to vote for their choice, choosing President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso (in a poll which the Eurosceptic United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) later admitted to rigging).

She was shortlisted in the Channel 4 Political Awards 2006 for the "Most Inspiring Political Figure" award. It was voted for by the public and she came second to Jamie Oliver, beating Tony Blair, David Cameron, George Galloway and Bob Geldof. [1]

In February 2006 Shami was called an "anarchist in a barrister's wig" by Loaded magazine.

Shami Chakrabarti was awarded a Doctor of Laws honoris causa from Roehampton University in 2006 and received an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of East Anglia in June 2007 [2]

She was made a CBE in the 2007 Queen's Birthday Honours.

Her husband is a partner at City firm Herbert Smith.

She was featured on Greatest Britons as the Best Campaigner.