About Richard Coles
Richard Keith Robert Coles (born 26 March 1962) is an English writer, radio presenter and Church of England priest. After playing in the 1980s band Bronski Beat, he came to prominence as the multi-instrumentalist who partnered Jimmy Somerville in the band the Communards. They achieved three UK top-10 hits, including the No. 1 record and best-selling single of 1986, a cover version of "Don't Leave Me This Way". Coles frequently appears on radio and television as well as in newspapers and, from March 2011 until March 2023, was the co-host of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live programme. He is a regular contributor to the television shows QI, Would I Lie to You? and Have I Got News for You. He is the chancellor of the University of Northampton, a former honorary chaplain to the Worshipful Company of Leathersellers, and a patron of social housing project Greatwell Homes in Wellingborough. Coles was awarded an MA by research from the University of Leeds in 2005 for work on the Greek text of the Epistle to the Ephesians. In 1983, he appeared with Jimmy Somerville in the Lesbian and Gay Youth Video Project film Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts, which won the Grierson Award. While at university, Coles became a Roman Catholic and remained so for the next ten years before returning to Anglicanism in 2001.
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