Hamilton tops list of most important black people in Britain

Lewis Hamilton

Winner Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton holds his trophy as he celebrates on the podium after the Formula One Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari race track in Imola, Italy, on November 1, 2020.

Photo credit: Miguel Medina | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Hamilton has also been headlining support for the Black Lives Matter movement since the death in America of a black man, George Floyd, under a policeman’s knee.
  • Hamilton’s father, Anthony, was born in Grenada, but his mother is British, thus their son is mixed race.

Racing driver Lewis Hamilton has been named the most influential black person in the United Kingdom, underlining the growing influence of ethnic minority personalities in western societies.

Days after winning Formula One’s World Championship for a record-equalling seventh time, Hamilton topped the 2021 Powerlist, an annual rating of the most powerful people of African, African Caribbean and African-American heritage in this country.

Widely regarded as the world’s greatest racing driver, Hamilton is Formula One’s only non-white driver, something he is desperate to change. Back in June, he encouraged his fellow F1 drivers to take a knee before races, and he launched the Hamilton Commission, which aims to increase the number of black people in motor racing.

Hamilton has also been headlining support for the Black Lives Matter movement since the death in America of a black man, George Floyd, under a policeman’s knee.

There is a widespread belief that Hamilton will be awarded a knighthood in the forthcoming New Year Honours List.

If that happens, he will join Somali-born Sir Mohammed Farah, the most successful British athlete in modern Olympic history.

Hamilton’s father, Anthony, was born in Grenada, but his mother is British, thus their son is mixed race. Lewis was born in Stevenage, London and went to Catholic schools, where he starred at both cricket and football, before entering the world of go-karting.

About his top spot on the Powerlist, Hamilton said, “I am so proud to be acknowledged, especially among the black community. I like to think I’m just part of a chain of many people pushing for change.”

Others among the top 10 are rapper, singer and songwriter Stormzy, British-Nigerian historian and writer David Olusoga, journalist and broadcaster Afua Hirsch and Dame Donna Kinnair, head of the Royal College of Nursing.

In addition to its Top 10, the Powerlist features several honourable mentions, notable among them Manchester United’s star footballer, Marcus Rashford, whose family hails from St Kitts.

At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Rashford campaigned for disadvantaged children to get free school meals over the holidays. His efforts won wide support and led to the government reversing its stance and providing meals at no cost.

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Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic drags on. This week, England’s second lockdown will end and the country will return to the tier system, which carves the nation into different slices with rules of varying severity.

Areas where there are higher levels of coronavirus will be under tighter restrictions and parts of the country where the virus is less prevalent will have looser limits.

This is the same system that has applied in the past, but this time, the government says, the rules will be tougher.

However, light at the end of the tunnel brightened markedly last week with the announcement of a third successful vaccine, this one British.

The news led to hopes that vaccinations could begin before the year’s end for NHS and care workers and the over-80s, with full-scale public protection targeted for the new year.


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Hotel concierges, at least those in the posher establishments, are held to be great solvers of problems, providing guests with whatever they desire.

But those in some of the Travelodge company’s 575 hotels must surely have been stumped by some of the more bizarre demands made over the last year.

There was, for instance, a request for a spare bed for an imaginary friend, and, elsewhere, a request for a room to store 200 butterflies for a wedding.

A mask for a snoring husband is probably something the concierge managed but a request for a bag of soil from Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium must have proved challenging unless the hotel was friends with the club’s manager, Jurgen Klopp.

As for a businessman’s request that his bed be moved to a beach for “blue sky thinking”, this may be best described as pie in the sky.


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A light-hearted look at words and numbers…

Tommy told his mum that the teacher had asked a really hard question: “What is the past tense of think?”

So what did he answer? Said Tommy, “I thought and I thought and I thought and finally I wrote that the past tense of think is thunk.”

A mathematician, a statistician and an accountant apply for the same job. All are asked, “What is 500 plus 500?”

Said the mathematician, “One thousand.”

Said the statistician, “”I can state with ninety-five per cent certainty that it is one thousand.”

Said the accountant, “What would you like it to be?”

They hired the accountant.


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There was a bowl of apples at the convent school cafeteria with a note from the nun saying, “Take only one, God is watching.”

Further along there is a bowl of cookies with a pupil’s scribbled note, “Take as many as you like, God is watching the apples.”