Lenny Henry calls for more black execs

Lenny Henry has called for a "seismic shift" to place more black and Asian executives in the upper echelons of the British media.

The comic, currently performing his first West End show, said the increase in the number of black people in front of the camera was meaningless until matched by a similar change in senior management.

Talking in a live webchat on the Guardian's website, Henry said: "I think there's been a concerted effort to up the ante as far as presenters and broadcasters from the ethnic minorities are concerned. But it is not enough.

"Until there are more people of colour involved in the decision-making processes both on mainstream commercial TV and on the BBC, black and brown people in this country will never feel they are represented fairly on television.

"It has changed significantly in the last ten years but I think our problem is we are impatient for change.

"There needs to be a huge seismic shift in the way people are recruited for these kind of jobs. It's going to be very hard work indeed for whoever takes this job on and maybe I won't see a complete change in my lifetime."

Henry started his career cracking politically incorrect material on the old club circuit, even appearing on the Black And White Minstrel show, until embracing some of the principles of the alternative comedy movement in the Eighties.

Published: 25 Nov 2003