My London: Peter Tatchell

Home is…

A tiny one-bedroom council flat in Elephant and Castle, for 40 years, since 1978. I live alone. But I let spiders cohabit with me. They kill bugs.

Where do you work out?

In my flat. Gyms are a con. I do a daily alternate routine of 60 push-ups, 60 squats, 60 bench presses and 120 sit-ups. I’ve still got pecs and abs at 66.

Where do you go to let your hair down?

I rarely relax because of the stress and strain of my human rights work. But I occasionally go to G-A-Y at Heaven nightclub in Charing Cross. Great dance music and a fun crowd.

Last play you saw?

The Inheritance at the Young Vic. It’s a story of love and loss, from the Aids ‘gay plague’ years until the election of Donald Trump. Vanessa Redgrave stole the show.

Favourite shops?

The richest 20 per cent of the world’s people consume 80 per cent of the world’s resources. That’s obscene. I’m an anti-materialist. I loathe our wasteful, indulgent consumer society. I buy what I need and not much more.

Ever had a run-in with a policeman?

Oh many. Officers used needless force when I ran in front of Tony Blair’s car and forced it to halt in 2003, in protest at the Iraq war. The police tried to do me after I attempted to arrest Robert Mugabe in London in 1999, but fortunately I secured video footage proving the allegations were untrue.