The legal director of the new Equality and Human Rights Commission has a tailor-made job and one with significant leverage in the battle to remove inequalities in society. John Wadham, 56, took up the new post last autumn, complete with staff of 80 lawyers; the commission itself has a budget of £70 million. He made his name as an outspoken campaigner for civil liberties after joining Liberty, the human rights group, in 1990, first as legal officer then director. During his 13 years he acted for David Shayler, the MI5 agent, and fought a series of battles with government over anti-terrorist legislation, ID cards and DNA databases. In 2003 he was made deputy director of the new Independent Police Complaints Commission, leading the criticism of the Metropolitan Police over the death of Jean Charles de Menezes. Born in South London, he went to Stanley Technical School, the London School of Economics and Surrey University. He is married and has a pilot’s licence, owning one sixth of a light aircraft.

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